Working on fixin up a '73 comet. I have a darn good running 302 engine currently in my boat. My buddy is an engine god and he told me to drop my engine in my boat in my comet and buy a big block for my boat. My curiousity is, how "mean" can that engine make my comet? Is it a good engine for it? I know crap about engines, so excuse my noviceness...if that's a word. LOL.
500HP and similar Torque will just about max out a 302 block, but in our light cars, that is a lot of power... You definitely want a bigblock in the boat... Besides, if the 302 in the boat was built for boat use, it is probably pretty stout already. Is your car near the highway in Belton? I drove that way on 9/22 last year, on the way to Temple and the Waco All Fords meet, and saw one near the road in that area.
That is tons of power in the little ole comet. I was not aware that engine could do that. Yeah, right now the engine is in a 26' day cruiser. It runs well and sounds awesome, but I feel it is pushing too much boat and I don't want to stess it.
No, I just bought it in Austin last week. It's in pretty rough shape, I am a long way from dropping in the engine. My buddy is going to be doing/teaching the engine deal with me once we start, but he's currently elbow deep in 4 other engines at the time. They are all way ahead of me....lol.
Well, welcome to the Board. There is a great "Fountain of Maverick/Comet Knowledge" here (sorry to say I don't provide much, but drink from the fountain regularly ). Do you know who built the boat motor? I bet they have it "fixed up" pretty good. Probably stroked and bored. When I was part of the boating world, it was strictly "the more cubes the better" for lots of torque. You might have a monster in that boat and not even know it
my buddy hates ford with a passion. He's a total chevy guy. However, he often tells me "you got a mean ass motor in that...even though its a ford." All I know is that it was overhauled by someone not too long ago, he stamped the engine, but I never could find out much about it. I pushes that boat nice, I get about 45 mph, which is damn good for a 26' sleekcraft day cruiser. pulls skiers and tubers nice, lots of torque. It has a through transome exhaust...and I just love the sound. each time I fire it up I think I get wood. My guess is like yours, its set up nice. Once Mike gets into it and tells me whats in there, I'll update.
If you are pushing that big of a boat and pulling up skiers easily, I would guess you have at LEAST 300 hp, maybe more. That is a pretty big boat to be yanking up a skier on a 302ci engine. My dad used to have a 451 or 455 Olds in his 16' jet boat, cruised at 60mph all day long, could pull a skier out of his boots, but running that big ole engine at high rpms all the time meant lots of work...yearly. I agree with your buddy on fords...But this 302 is a stout little booger, and I have had a blast with it. Cannot seem to blow it up no matter how hard I try. I have it leaking from many places, but still lights up and takes off
Cool. One more novice question. Is the stock tranny in the comet going to be able to handle that enigine or do I need to go tranny shopping?
C4 auto tranny should be able to handle it, but you might want to have it rebuilt first. Those old clutches and stuff may not make it.
Why would a car motor dropped into a boat have to be going in reverse? I know props tend to be bladed in one direction, but they can be had in either direction of screw (or both, as in counter-rotating prop setups). I would guess that if it was a car motor dropped into a boat, it would be easier to find a different prop pitch than to rebuild the entire motor to fit the prop. Again, not an expert, just wondering and tossing out some ideas. Take a look at the front of the engine. Turn it over and tell us which direction the main pulley/balancer is turning.
My prop turns opposite of buddys bayliner, he said its backwards. I thought that it was done in the outdrive, not the engine. I'll check and get back. Its a '78 Volvo outdrive, those things are screwy.
boat engines have a different rotation, it all has to do with torque, there are right hand and left hand rotations, the exhaust is different on a boat also.
