The elusive 224/3.7 MerCruiser banger

Good on you Beck, you got it fired up!! I don't really know what the stock dist has for advance. I can run it on my dist machine to find out. My original dist has a Pertronix unit so I don't know if it will fire, but will give it a try.
I was hoping I would have my engine ready to fire up to, but my pistons are made wrong. Ring lands not deep enough! Just another set back!

 

I saw on the Facebook performance group that someone made their best power at 34 deg. That is close enough for me. I will start under that and work up to where the power stops going up, then back off a little.

 

@Flatrod17 ,

Waiting for that one, too!

 

Beck, good plan start safe! I think you are in the ball park at 34.

Sorry the Pertronix just had spark scatter everywhere. I did run my MSD since I had the machine out. I plan to run 10 degrees on the crank and about 21 in the dist. I will play with total anywhere from 30 to 36 degrees when I get it running. My fake MSD made 17 in the dist and the real MSD had 18. I will run up to 14 on the crank and try to get the rest in the dist. I don't think my combination will need any more then 34.

 

I recut my ring grooves so now its on with assembly! Wanted to show a few things I did differently. I finished up the pan and windage tray. Being as these are skirted blocks, hard to add scrappers to them, so my tray goes down and works like a scrapper on the right side.
On my cam I cut the front to be just like a 460 cam. I used a 460 .005 under chain set. I did cut the fuel pump eccentric area for better balance, but did not balance it, or the cam. I still think the tensioner is in there for expansion so I put it back in.
On the front cover I welded a bridge so to speak to block the water, as I am running my fuel pump off the end of the cam. Also could be a good place to run a distributor when the intake is in the way.

 

Flatrod,
Are the bolts that hold the windage tray also the main bearing bolts?
Looks like you might have spaced the tray up away from the crank a bit. Just simple spacers or more like a main cap girdle? I have been looking at that possibility myself. Don't know if it would be necessary, though.

 

They are some main bolts I had here with studs on them. I think they may of been out of a diesel maybe. Same length as stock bolts. Big block chevy tray bolts will work but were a bit shorter. I had to add the stand offs to get the tray to sit .060 off everything. I have a 4 inch stroke crank.

 

Does anyone have a picture of one of these engines with off the shelf short headers on them?

I'm looking to pull the trigger before stainless price increases get reflected in header prices and I don't want to accidentally wind up with a set of block huggers that are trying to route the exhaust into where the starter wants to be.

 

Flatrod,
If you happen to remember the original application for those bolts, I would be appreciative if you would post it. Looks like they would be exactly what I would need.

 

Bruce,
I don't know what the bolts came from but looking around it looks like 460 oil pick up main bolt. Here is pic of them. Also I was looking at a 500 Cadillac block with a main cap bolt, looked the same as what is needed but was a 3/8 fine thread where the ones I used are 3/8x16 on the top part.

 

$109 later I have my headers. They bot stick out ~8" from the block. Fit and finish is typical for cheapo stainless headers but is still nicer than anything else on the vehicle it's going in. You can install/remove the starter with the mid dump one. You can't with the rear dump one.

 

I like the look of the rear dump, but the center dump is probably better with more equal length tubes. Plus if you don't have to overhaul the whole left side to change a starter its got to be better!

 

I think clearance will force my hand. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it.

 

@Flatrod17,
I'm mocked up my engine and was measuring for ground clearance. I chose 5" as the lowest allowable point for anything hanging underneath. What I found was that that makes the top of the valve cover taller than the cowl, by a couple of inches. I'm not understanding how that can be. You deepened the pan, and your 23 cowl should be shorter than the 27 I'm planning to run.
Do you know the overall height of your engine? I can't imagine that the Boss head is shorter than the standard 460 piece.

Thanx,

Bruce

 

Bruce,
My engine is 27.5 tall. I did not deepen my pan, I just squared it up to more of a box pan. It has the stock drain plugs which is where I measured to the top of the valve cover. If you add the breather, its another 2 inches. My engine is out of the car, I am assembling it right now, its almost done, still waiting on some exhaust push rods. And then some trans parts. So I can't get a good refence to the cowl for you other then pictures. But I do think I set mine at about 4.5 inch pan to ground.
How tall is your engine?

 

This is the best picture I have to refence the cover to cowl.

 

Mine is 25 5/8" including the oil fill cap. I think I screwed up by not adding in the frame rail height. I even sketched it out and still was coming up short.
Math!!!!!!!
I was about to haul out all my dry sump stuff and start to cut up the pan. I like what you did there and will likely make something similar.

Thanx for your help as always,

Bruce

 

VERY NICE !

 

they don't list it, but Limeworks has metal teardrop hood blisters or if you want to minimize the size check with slatflatsspeedshop

 

It is just mocked up in that picture but I hope it comes out looking like that when done. Still need to make the header.
I want to put a hood on it, and I will need a big Blister to cover that big head! I will look into your suggestions.
So the Boss head is about 4 inches taller if I include my breather. I knew it had to be taller, but didn't think it was that much different.

 

Thanks flatrod. That helps confirm my suspicions and some stuff I have heard from 460 builders. It is the same for them doesn't cause them any concern. We need to find the member that posted the 460 blueprints and ask if they have the crank or bottom end drawings as it would to be good to know how far they are offset. It seems so little but there must have been some reason for it, well...you would think. Anyhow this popped up when I was doing the drawings for the crank for billet crank makers. My surmises are that if the journal gets centered and you use a 2.200 chevy rod it will actually be centered in the piston.

 

Can anyone tell me what the thread is in the end of the cam snout ?

1/2"-13 LH ?

 

Only if you tell us what you're using it in

It is definitely LH. I can't get out to the shop right now, but 1/2-13 sounds right. If no one else answers you, I'll check and get back tomorrow.

Bruce

 

Oh you know, just a dragster...

 

Just checked, 1/2"-13 LH

CONFIRMED!

 

Mine are all male threaded, same 1/2 LH coarse thread

 

Gearheads is correct!
Back on page 87 post number 2593, I posted pictures of the 3 different ends on these cams. The first pic is mine that I cut off. There was a left handed stud screwed into the cam on the one questioned here.

 

Thank you very much Gentleman !

 

Only if you tell us what you're using it in

To drive either a fuel pump or magneto (or both)

 

So, why LH thread ?

So it will unscrew itself ?