So I came across this motor locally. The story is a local well known paint and body guy who passed away had the motor. He had it rebuilt and put it in a older Donzi boat. It was in the boat and only ran for about an hour (on land during install - confirmed by mechanic who only did the boat install) when the boat was sold without the motor. The paint and body guy was well known and routinely removed block ID numbers as he did high end custom work (as this one was). So long story is the current owner has no idea what is in the motor. It is beautifully done however. Obviously has water cooled boat headers. Owner has video with motor running on another stand with the mentioned 750 double pumper holley in the add and it was flawless and without a hiccup (I figured to much carb for this small block - had 60-65 Oil PSI on gauge) Torker II intake, MSD dissy, M/T valve covers and such. Pulled a valve cover and heads as clean as external block (literally eat off of them) Heads # 3998993 (68-76 307-350 1.72/1.5) - I have mixed feelings about the heads. I think the pure beauty of this thing is playing on my emotions. I am looking for a motor as my current is shot and I am building another. I basically want something for now to cruise around that doesn't look like a turd as well as being able to recover (not all) of my money when I re-sell. Next question is HP???? I know.. I know. So, rebuilt SBC (could be a 307 for all I can tell) with said heads, torker II intake, 750 holley DP, Short tube headers and such. I'm thinking at least 225 - 250??? My other option, for a grand more, is a used but good running 383 stroker (420hp - skip white stage 1.5) with some nice chrome (I think this is the obvious choice). Any and all input is appreciated as again I'm letting my emotions get involved with this boat motor. I'm just nostalgic at heart, and you have to admit that is a beautiful motor.

http://neworleans.craigslist.org/boa/4559698237.html

 

What are you asking? Getting $2K back at resale time?

 

[QUOTE=Easy Mike;1587335825]What are you asking? Getting $2K back at resale time?[/QUOT

Basically would you pay 2K with the unknown or just pony up for the 420hp 383 stroker motor. I think I could recover the 2K at resale. I would just hate to end up with a lethargic small block in the mean time to cruise around with. Just wondering what others would do given the options.

 

Does the marine equipment go with the engine, worth some money if it does. So no block number in the back driver side of the engine?? The torq II intake may have hood clearance problems and is really an upper rpm intake. The 993 heads were used on some of the old gm crate 350s but thought they were 1.94 1.50 valves. They are ok heads but not high perf. I would try to do more research on the block i d to determine if a 307 or 350. If a 350 then $2000 probably a good deal with marine gear included.

 

That was pretty much my thoughts. Looks like $2-300.00 for the used marine exhaust manifolds. I know there is another number (vin??) in front of passenger head on deck. It was a DA??? Will have to see if I can find anything on it. Motor sounds good running though.

 

2 grand for an unknown would be way out of my comfort zone. Seems like a lot of money to speculate with to me. I have my original 327-300 from my '68 which had been professionally redone and has never been ran after rebuild. It had so little wear that it was rebuilt without going over size on anything. It is a complete carb to pan, pulleys, pumps, etc. engine in pristine condition. I will not sell it, but if I were to I would think I would be lucky to get $700 for it. However, I plan to keep it in moth ***** and if I ever sell the car I assume it will add value to the deal.

 

I would go with the stroker if you trust or know the seller because it is ready to go and you know what you are getting.
You can paint the stroker to look like that one since it is already out.

 

Yeah, 2K for a motor that you know virtually nothing about is a serious crap-shoot. At the very least, you'd have to pop a head off to see what kinda pistons and compression you are running and pop the front cover to see what kinda cam is in it. Might run nice in you car or it could be a total dog-
Marine engines are built around different parameters than automotive engines. While they may be similar in certain aspects, you'll never know unless you open it up.
Could be a 307 with 8:1 compression to run on common 87 octane marina fuel or it could be 12:1 that needs to run on racing gas.

Personally, I wouldn't want to drop 2K for a motor that I need to tear open and potentially replace a bunch of parts to make it compatible for my application.

 

The DA that you see could i d your block as a 283 or 307 as the 307 was just a 283 with a 327 crank in it. You would have to tear the engine down to check bore and stroke to see what it is. You can buy a 350 crate motor from jegs or summit for about $1500 with free shipping so even though that nice clean orange marine engine is tempting I woul pass on it.

 

Thanks for talking some logic into me guys. I am going to pass on both motors, take my time and order a crate for not much more from PACE or JEGS. I'll know exactly what I have and have a warranty to go along with it.

 

 

Go shopping for a car for 2-3k you find some nice motors, for example I bought an 1979 rx7 with 357 CHEVY WITH DART 200CC HEADS 72CC CHAMBERS,1.6 RATIO ALUMINUM ROLLER ROCKERS,,WEIAND ALUMINUN INTAKE,SUMMIT CARBURETOR 600CFM. COMP 280 MAGNUM CAM,etc for 1500 and you got a roller to sell plus extra parts. Good luck