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Silverton 34 repower

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Sambrook72

New member
Hello,

I just purchased a 95 silverton 34 aft cabin. It has 2 crusaider 454's. The person I bought it from said it hadn't run in years. Seams to be seazed, and when I pulled a few plugs , mystery oil spurted out. Because its been sitting should I just pull both engines out and rebuild them? Is this boat with this motor setup something that would make it a few hundred miles off the coast?

Thanks
 
Not at the present!

I advise you to contact a competent marine mechanic and have him/ her go over those engines BEFORE trying to start them.


Jeff
 
I hate to say it but I'd bet you never involved a marine surveyor in your purchase....and I'll go further and say you will have an intimate understanding of why they should be involved when purchasing a boat by the time you are done....
 
There's a reason that the boat has not been operated in years. What that is.... who knows.
Owner health issues.... financial issues..... mechanical issues???

If they are seized up, you may as well pull them.

If they are in need of a complete over-haul, perhaps consider going with two SBC's in the 377/383 version.
A correctly built 377/383 (with a quench effect combustion chamber) will produce torque similar to the 7.4L BBC.
These are approximately 250 lbs per engine lighter than the BBC.

It will no doubt need new exhaust manifolds/risers anyway.

As for going off coast a few hundred miles or so.... you'd best look at your fuel capacity, anticipated MPG, and do the math.
Generally we want 1/3 fuel for the destination, 1/3 fuel for the return, and 1/3 fuel for reserve.
A 100 mile off coast trip is a 200 mile total trip.... and that's with no side trips nor trolling time.
If your fuel burn is 1 mpg, factor in the 1/3 reserve, and there is your required fuel capacity.


.
 
According to the Silverton previous models spec page, that boat has a 260 gal tank. 1 nmpg is way too much to expect...more like .6 or .7 nmpg I would guess. So don't plan on going anywhere near "a few hundred miles off the coast" unless getting back is not part of your float plan. :eek:
 
200 miles off shore is way way beyond a 34 footer. Too much can go wrong that far out. You have to not only factor in MPG but also how fast you can return to port when the weather kicks up. Remember, you burn a lot more fuel when the waves get higher. I run a 34' Luhr's and won't even consider 100 miles off shore, although many do go out that far with a 34 footer.
Nightstalker
 
My 34C is fully capable of a 30 mile offshore run....that may not include the 8 miles or so we run to get to the inlet. Erich's .6 / .7nmpg is exactly right as is Rick's 1/3 rule. Like nightstalker, I have yet to see 100 miles offshore and that is in a friends diesel 36' Luhrs with 400 gallons of fuel. Despite a marine surveyors review, we had to learn a lot about boat maintenance and mechanics . Our first run was about walking distance from any shoreline. It took a season of very intimate relations with our engines and vessel to venture away from visible land. Lacking mechanical skills, it may be prudent to follow Jeffs' suggestion or start reading up on some engine manuals. It was a VERY BIG aid to our boating experiences.
 
I did basically the same thing bought a 40ft bayliner with 2 454 cusaiders. both engines were locked up. I thought I was going to have to pull them and rebuild. but believe one thing the Crusader's one heck of a well built motor. So I put WD40 in each cylinder of motors, I did this over about 10 days. Then I took all the pulleys off the front. I made a short heavy Square bare about 11/2" and put 2- 8 grade bolts in the end to line up with the slots in the crank (not the threaded holes) then took off the rest of the front stuff,alt.,hoses, so I had room to get a 5ft. 21/2" scheduale 80 pipe and just started leveraging back and forth. I just about gave up and the port engine broke over, was I surprised, that gave me the motivation to do the same to the Starboard engine. after getting them broke over I took air and blew out the cylinders, having to roll up some rags and sticking tips in to help absorb the oil, they both run just fine now making sure to start every once and a while so the don't revert back. Oh make sure u flush the line of gas if its been sitting a while. and check compression with a screw in guage. It was a lot of work but fond I saved myself 10 thousand plus. these are CH350 1980 with 500 hrs. I spent about 40 bucks to get them broke over and another couple hundred filter, fuel pump, and so on that was needed. All in all it was well worth the effort and it took me about 3 week to get them running. The hardest part was working in that engine room. Good luck if you try it. Mark.
 
MRD said:
I did basically the same thing bought a 40ft bayliner with 2 454 cusaiders. both engines were locked up. I thought I was going to have to pull them and rebuild. but believe one thing the Crusader's one heck of a well built motor. So I put WD40 in each cylinder of motors, I did this over about 10 days. Then I took all the pulleys off the front. I made a short heavy Square bare about 11/2" and put 2- 8 grade bolts in the end to line up with the slots in the crank (not the threaded holes) then took off the rest of the front stuff,alt.,hoses, so I had room to get a 5ft. 21/2" scheduale 80 pipe and just started leveraging back and forth. I just about gave up and the port engine broke over, was I surprised, that gave me the motivation to do the same to the Starboard engine. after getting them broke over I took air and blew out the cylinders, having to roll up some rags and sticking tips in to help absorb the oil, they both run just fine now making sure to start every once and a while so the don't revert back. Oh make sure u flush the line of gas if its been sitting a while. and check compression with a screw in guage. It was a lot of work but fond I saved myself 10 thousand plus. these are CH350 1980 with 500 hrs. I spent about 40 bucks to get them broke over and another couple hundred filter, fuel pump, and so on that was needed. All in all it was well worth the effort and it took me about 3 week to get them running. The hardest part was working in that engine room. Good luck if you try it. Mark.
Click to expand...


MRD. Just curious. Have you had this boat in the water and run it at all? Wondering if you may have damaged any rings or pistons while trying to free them up. Suggest a couple of oil/filter changes back to back once you start running them.
 
Sambrook72

One thought the fuel consumption figure of .5 .6 or what ever # you been quoted here or any where is per engine, not a figure for both engines.

Joel
 
Yes I have had it out on the water, and yes I did three oil changes and after running for an while flushed the whole system and taking off valve covers and cleaning what I could get to . I got very lucky I think. all the compression checks are good and Ive done quite a few hours so far with no problem. Now my true belief is if you have the money to pull and rebuild, do it, but living on a budget forced me this route so I've still got a few years before I need to repower. Then you have to take in to consideration the cost of running the 454's, and that in it's self makes it worth repower in the future. But you do need to know I am a mechanic and had access to the tools I needed. Now in the beginning I had my doubts but it was a inexpensive way to figure out what I needed to do.
 
Last edited:
joel8080 said:
Sambrook72

One thought the fuel consumption figure of .5 .6 or what ever # you been quoted here or any where is per engine, not a figure for both engines.

Joel
Click to expand...

I disagree. My estimate (.6 - .7) posted earlier is the total fuel use rate for the twin 454s. At least that is my estimated rate of usage (no fuel flow meters) at cruise (3200-3400 rpm) is my 90 Silverton 34C. So a 50 mile trip will consume about 85-100 gals of gas. If it used .6 - .6 gpm per engine, then the total would be almost 200 gallons...not the case. They are bad enough, but that would be give me a range of only 75-90 miles on a full 300 gal tank. I would be getting a boat with diesels very quickly.

Erich
 
The original poster Sambrook72 has not responded to any of these posts since his first post on 9/16/12. Guess he is not that nterested.
 
Erich

Good morning your math is off a little, if you go 50 miles and you burn 0.6 gals per mile or 1.2 gals for both engines you would burn 41.6 gals in a 50 mile trip. on a 300 mile trip you would burn 250 gals if 0.6 is your burn per mile per engine.

Have a great day

Joel
 
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