1963? Hydrodyne custome deluxe 1700 restoration thread

My mistake, the 140 is an older 4 cylinder, but the 3.0 is also a 4 cylinder. I don't know the size difference.

 

The 2.5L and 3.0L mercruisers are based on a GM 4 cylinder industrial engine. I do not believe they were ever in cars, so there is not automotive junkyard engines. These blocks are the same size and as I found out, way bigger than the Volvo B18

The Renault drives are old and smaller. Never even seen one.

There are also some GM aluminum based packages out there, but I have not seen them either. The problem is the size of the Alpha drive, it is just bigger and I think it would be too deep to correctly fit on this thing. I will research if I need to. A 200 series volvo may be the way to go, just hard to find volvo stuff in America. Not like old mercruiser stuff.

 

I like the idea of the Volvo if you can make it work. It is light and small, with good power potential. There are more Volvos around than I imagined.

 

Brian - read your Formula resto thread on OSO - what a huge job and nicely done. Like you I get frustrated when I cant work on my project. I was going to head up this weekend but my help wussed out and I cant put the deck on by myself. After the formula your "little Dyne" should be easy except on the Formula you did not have to do much core work.

 

IMO , I'd go forward with mercruiser rather going backward with volvo vintage, unless you want the original build and provinance. Looks like some clearance issues to overcome but mercruiser will be the better option in the end, especially when needing to source parts.

Kevinb-

 

Kevin,
I have felt that way in the past, but this guy seems to know what he is doing. I think that if anyone can pull this off, he can. If he can find enough spares I think he can make this work.

The Volvo has some real performance advantages, mainly light weight and good power. The B18 engine is old technology, but has been used extensively in performance applications in the past.

My Mercruiser/Chevy 305 weighed 1000 pounds, and in my opinion was way too heavy for the 18 (I ran it 7 years). The 3.0 liter Mercruiser weighs 800 and would be really heavy in that boat. If I had raised my Mercruiser to get the cav plate even with the bottom the transom would have needed to be extended up.

I originally bought the 18 I/O to put a Mazda rotary in and I bought an engine which is still sitting at a friends place in Illinios (for 25 years now!). There I still have all the drawings I made for the special parts to do it. The marine installation parts were not available back then.

Then my daughter got interested in tournaments and I realized I needed a reliable tow boat, not some experimental job. I did some outboard research and realized that an outboard had a significant weight advantage over the I/O because of the drive weight even with the very light rotary. This was important to me because of the need for 16 mph performance. It turns out that the I/O hull makes a better outboard than the outboard hull for several reasons, so I am happy. He is not interested in an outboard conversion.

jim

 

Well, my compression on this b18 is horrible. No idea why, but I figure I have to tear into it anyways, why not. Kids want to do an engine, lets see what they can do. I am hoping the valves are not sealing and maybe a valve job and rings after honing and it will go back together. Then today I found a takeout AQ110 engine to prop package that "was running when parked" that is about 2 hours away. So looks like I am going for a drive tomorrow to spend a few hundred and buy another drive package the same as what I have now. Well, hopefully the engine is better, but not holding my breath. At this age I should really pull the head and pan anyways to at least check it over and put new gaskets on it.

Today I did the first part of repairing the seat base. I removed all the old wood and after sanding the bottom, added a layer of 18oz roving and then 1/2" plywood. Whole thing is sitting on a jig of 3/4" plywood to hold it flat while the plywood is curing to it. next step will be to remove the weights and add a layer of glass over the plywood. Stronger than original, more glass and sealed against water. I will have to post some pics when I can.

This is definitely getting a bit deeper, but what boat project of mine doesn't? LOL.

Yeah, with a spare drive and coupler, if it is in good shape, the AQ110 package is going back in! Gotta admit, it will be cool to have it original!

 

As much as I am a Merc fan I think you are doing the right thing with the Volvo. Minimal engineering and all. I don't know a whole lot about stern drives but if Jim says it's OK that is good enough for me. Looking forward to pics and progress and wishing I could work on mine.

 

http://www.v-performance.com/products/engine_parts.html

 

I'm with you on the weight to power ratio for the old volvo's. Just don't have a good feeling on the old volvo's for parts. I was thinking this could go forward with an in-line 258 mercruiser 165 but don't know the clearance issues. the 73 that I co-owned had that setup and it had good hole-shot but the person on the end of the rope hade to be patient.

Kevin