I saw this marine volvo I6 on ebay with 3 carbs, 170 hp, looks like a lot of aluminum, and running. Came out of a early 70's boat I think. I know nothing about boats or their engines. Can this be made to fit in a car. I don't know how the output of the engine is made to move the thing, or if it is a simple bellhousing, flex, tranny... Anybody know any more, can it be done? This may be a stupid question, but I was just curious, as I have a friend that is looking for something unique for his RPU project. Erron
Most boat inboard and I/O engines are car based so they mate up to the transmission or outdrive with a bell housing. With that said many of them are reverse rotation. I have a Ski Nautique with a 351 Ford that turns opposite of a car engine. SO if it turns the right way it could be put in a car.
If it is reverse rotation, you just swap the cam, distributor (?) and starter motor. Not hard at all. Where is it located? I need a Marine six cylinder.
I found it on ebay while looking for other I6 stuff. It's a volvo, somewhere in the northwest. Shouldn't be hard to find it through a search. It just started a couple days ago, w/ a $600 buy it now.
One thing to consider about marine engines is that they live a much harder life then a engine in a car, and I would be hesitant to buy one sight unseen. The biggest thing is that boats don't cool with a closed cooling system and radiator(well a few do, but 99.999% don't). They cool by picking up water from the lake/river/ocean and circulate it thru the engine. The biggest obvious problem with this is if the boat was used in saltwater, the entire internal water passages on the block are probably rusted up badly from saltwater. The other tough thing about a boat engine is that they spend 90% of their life at 3/4-full throttle, so they are worked pretty hard. And on a side note a marine cam will not perform very well on the street, as they are set to make their power at completely different ranges than a car, so the cam should be changed as well. Not trying to talk you out of it, just to point out a few things-hope it helps
I'll bet 3/4 throttle can't be worse than stop and go traffic. A guy up here scored 2 marine 440's out of a big boat built by Avro, one of the motors had the trans mounted off the front of the block, pretty cool setup. To bad he's a hoarder and they will just rot in his garage till he dies...or his ex-wife gets him.
Well the old I6 are from the 164 series cars and called b30. Basically the same engine as the 4 cyl b20, just two more cylinders. They were made from 69-75, but no aluminium here. The second generation I6 are from the 960 series, these are aluminium engines but doch 24v. The old ones looked like this:
If it's in the Pac N.W. make sure that it wasn't run in the Ocean. If it doesn't have a closed cooling system the Salt water will eat through the block in short time.
Sounds like a neat idea,I have an idea to put a 6 cyl outboard engine in a small roadster. Would be a real challenge but very unique. Jerry
Volvo Marine engines can be Chevy or Ford also. Looked at a boat with a Volvo marine engine....it was a small block chevy. Now, if those three carbs were SU side drafts......Okay....It's a Volvo volvo.
The marine motors can absolutely be used. Sounds like everyone that has answered posts knows what they are talking about. I just wanted to chip in my two cents worth - I have a '70 Mercruiser inline in a 27 T Touring. It takes a little bit of "engine-uity" but isn't that what hot rodding's all about?? I dig mine and it runs great. Sorry - no pics as I am at work, but I thought I would give you a little moral support! Build it!! Sounds like a bitchin project - just make sure yer frame is long enough, they are a bit longer than a V8. Tim
The Jalopy Journal
