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Sterndrive Chrysler questions??

R

ruckus3313

Regular Contributor
Ok,

I was given(for free) a late 60's early 70's Nautiline 43 houseboat. It has twin chrysler
marine motors. It says chrysler marine 290 on the valve covers.has 4 barrel holleys, with white sterndrives. I work at a chrysler dealership(automobile) and I cannot identify what motors they are. They to me look like big blocks for sure but they really dont look like 400's or 440's to me but I could be wrong. Also I have no idea what kind of outdrives they are.Both engines run smooth and outdrives work. Boat is an overall 6 out of 10. More cosmetic work than mechanical work. I look forward to fun summers to come but I need to
know what powerplants I really have.I am attaching pics and I hope some of you chrysler marine geniuses can help me out as all my boats have been volvo penta and I have NO idea what Im working with at this point n time. Thanks for any help
 

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yup talked to dave at hurrikain. was told they are dana 80 drives with 383 chrysler marine big
blocks. seems very friendly and helpful there. wish me luck with my new vessel and hopefully many
parties to come on the houseboat!!!
 
Your first picture looks to me like a RB block. The stamp pad under the fuel filter to the right of the distributor holddown should indicate displacement, ie 413, 426w, 440.
361, 383, 400 do not have that stamp pad on the top of the block. I believe they are below the right side exhaust manifold.
 
Amazing..Those drives are very unique. Very cool setup. The engine are probably fairly common though. Lots of Chrysler marine in those days.Can't believe it still runs well..god bless..
 
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yeah both run with no issues. replacing impellers,coils,points,plugs,wires,caps,rotors, and using all new ethenol fuel lines, and rebuilding the carbs this winter. also renewing the interior some fiberglass work and a bunch of other odd's n ends this winter. I have to find some manuals for that drive so I can install new rubbers and change out the outdrive oil...I have no idea what viscosity of oil in drive or how to service units. This is gonna be a big project for the 4 of us that are in on this deal.. Got the boat for free but its gonna be 2-3 thousand dollar tune-up and full detail lol....still gonna be worth my time. I have even been thinking about re-painting the hull and the whole cabin. not sure how far i want to get into this though haha!!! Thanks for the help and Ill keep my winter project updated here!!
 
Well it back to Dave for the manuals or this site may also have them. I she on Lake Erie ? The value of the repairs are inexpensive [cheap. not dear ] compared to the land down under ! I learned, while visiting the USA, to say "expensive" not to use "dear" . The word is more accepted down here. But our expensive is far more expensive than yours.
 
The Dana's are a great drive ( Really heavy duty ) you see a lot of these on Houseboats.
They made a early model and a late model ( early looks really knobby LOL ) and the later looks more modern. Also they made a shielded and non shielded version. You want to know what version you have when getting parts as some items change between the versions.
If you look at my website at: http://www.hurrikain.com/dana_drives.htm we have a manual with the recommended maintence parts for the drives and we also have a page you can see all the differences in the drives ( measurements )... We also have all the parts books online so you can see what the assembly's look like. If I can help in any way just drop me a line, were always happy to help.
 
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