Hi all
I have a 40' searay
that needs engines. Currently it has 454's

If this were your boat, would you re-do the existing 454's and beef
them up a little?

Or put a pair of bigger 502's in it

THanks
Mark

Depends on your needs and what you are willing to spend. Is it all
about going fast for you or are you just cruising with it? Do you care
about the fuel costs. Is the rest of the boat worth the engine
investment?

You most economical route is a couple rebuilt 454 bare long blocks.
They can be had pretty reasonably and obviousy will bolt right in. You
can reuse the intakes, carbs and the rest of the external stuff. You
probably want to replace the exhaust manifolds and risers too while you
have them out. Unless they are recently new.

Imho your current set up is a gas hog. I suspect that for not a whole
lot more than the 502's you could be looking at a pair of diesels. And
they would last several times longer that any gas engine. But that
would presume the boat is in good shape and you're going to keep it for
a while.

If it's all about going fast and you don't mind paying the extra bucks
I'd go 502's. To really get the advantage you probably want to go with
bigger carbs too. So it wil be an even bigger gas hog :-)

Big gus wrote:
Hi all
I have a 40' searay
that needs engines. Currently it has 454's

If this were your boat, would you re-do the existing 454's and beef
them up a little?

Or put a pair of bigger 502's in it

THanks
Mark

On Thu, 07 Sep 2006 05:43:24 -0400, Big gus
wrote:
Hi all
I have a 40' searay
that needs engines. Currently it has 454's

If this were your boat, would you re-do the existing 454's and beef
them up a little?

Or put a pair of bigger 502's in it

40 feet is pretty big for gas engines but if you are committed to
that plan, consider the 496 MAG or HO over the 502s. One of my
neighbors who really knows engines says that the fuel injected 496s
offer better economy, performance and durability.

He could have had anything he wanted on his own boat and chose the 496
MAGs.

Wayne.B wrote:
On Thu, 07 Sep 2006 05:43:24 -0400, Big gus
wrote:
Hi all
I have a 40' searay
that needs engines. Currently it has 454's

If this were your boat, would you re-do the existing 454's and beef
them up a little?

Or put a pair of bigger 502's in it

40 feet is pretty big for gas engines but if you are committed to
that plan, consider the 496 MAG or HO over the 502s. One of my
neighbors who really knows engines says that the fuel injected 496s
offer better economy, performance and durability.

He could have had anything he wanted on his own boat and chose the 496
MAGs.

Depending on just how much money your looking to spend, you might want
to consider diesel conversion. Now I know it will be more expensive,
and more involved, but you'll end up with a faster boat that burns less
fuel (less expensive fuel as well, ballpark figure of about ten gallons
less an hour, maybe more), and the engines will last a lot longer. On
top of that the boat will be worth a lot more when it comes time to
sell it, and will be a lot easier to get rid of. It can't hurt to check
it out, if it's too much, go back to plan A.