found a relatively low hour dual quad 392 Chrysler marine motor, running still in boat, price includes pulling and delivery. is it (or I should say could it be) worth the $2,500.00 asking price?
Take your camera with you. It would be cool to see an origional marine installation of one of those. Frank
Take two grand in one pocket and five hundred in another. Don't let it get away. It never hurts to try..... Mutt
I would check out the motor for funny stuff Some of those marine hemis had weird attributes, namely some of them ran backwards.
not that I would want to tear into the thing immediately but it's my understanding that the reverse rotating motors only difference is in the cam. not that big a deal if it is, what's a cam, lifters, timing set, oil pump and gaskets cost for the 392? one left nut? both nuts? if it's only the left one I still might do it.
I hate to post about the ones that got away and not add anything other than my own angst, but here goes. Maybe it will help your decision - ~4 years back on that auction site, there was a mid-50's Chris-Craft cabin cruiser rotting apart at a podunk boatyard in NJ w/ twin hemis. I do not recall the displacement though. It went for $600, the starting bid, and to the first bidder! $600 is not a lot on money but at that time in my life, it might as well have been $100K. I had neither free to spend. (Like being badly dumped, it only hurts a little bit now.) Watching where these motors have gone since then makes me think your investment today will have you quite smug 2 years from now. Good Luck!
cam, and dizzy...minor costs in the long run for a kick *** engine. you are probably going to give it a over haul anyways.
the distributor would need a breaker plate and point swap I take it.. if it needs an overhaul $2,500.00 sounds about a thousand too high.
STARTER too, I suppose BUT, as a core engine for a rebuild, I think you could find something cheaper. if its good to go as is, probably more than a fair deal
Check out the numbers. I don't believe Chrysler provided marine spec 392's to the boat companies, only 331 and 354's. The 392's would be one-off set ups done outside of Chrysler. I checked out a marine 354 with 2x4's last year in Lake Havasu. It was supposed to be a runner. Came complete with the front mount trans. Asking was $1500, but I offered less. Steve
Paul, Michigander is right. A buddy of mine restores wooden runabouts. He sent me the following info. when I asked about your motor: 331 and 354's were the only hemi's marinized. They were really expensive engines for Chrysler to make in the first place, and they really had only limited interest in the pleasure boat industry consequently. By '59, the wedge motors were lighter and put out more poop. (361/383/413) I am sure that if it is a 2X4 engine it is a 354, rated in '57 and '58 at 275hp. I recall that the 331's offered in Century and Chris Craft in '55 and '56 had twin two barrels and were rated at 200hp. Attached is a pic of the 275hp version in a buddy's '58 Coronado. He and I agree that these were underrated by the factory and were more like 350hp as Coronado's with the engine were clocked at nearly 60 mph. I have read that the "industrial" blocks and heads (which the marine motors are) have a higher nickel content than "car" blocks. The camshaft must be different for marine/industrial (high load) use, but I'm not sure. Otherwise, an engine rebuild kit for a 354 car engine should work. All bearings and pistons can only be found NOS or in the case of pistons, custom cast. As for the price of this setup, who knows. Like all of this ****, he should pay as little as possible. Oh, and he did say if you don't pursue it, he may be interested in it or other parts. If you do buy it, he may be interested in motor mounts, exhaust manifolds, carbs, etc. So something to think about.
Paul, I have been following that ad, thought about calling on it, but other things have my priority right now. One thing you might want to check; make sure it is fresh water cooled ( which it probably is). If it is raw water cooled ( i.e., sea-water), all the jackets could be toast. Good luck. The "Hemi" build-up book does state that industrial and marine engine casting were often done at the end of the work shift, using metal left in the "melting-pot", and that often resulted in high nickel content. Mark. Also, it likely has a neato aluminum oil pan.
Another good thing about Marine Hemis is that a lot of them seemed to have the super-desirable adjustable rockers. Those alone would cover a large chunk of your investment if you decided to sell them and use the standard non-adjustable variety.
well, I took off from work early to make the two hour drive to check it out. made it about halfway and the entire Southbound lanes of I5 were shut down, aparently there was a fatal car wreck ahead and nobody was going anywhere. always a sobering reality, makes one think about priorities.. so I got off the freeway, turned around and headed home. I just got off the phone with the seller, (not the same person who placed the ad or talked to earlier) he admitted to not being mechanically inclined and said that after he and his friend looked at it they saw it was not a dual quad, but was a two-two barrel setup and that he did get numbers off the block, N45S-3 I can't say for certain, but I think maybe they misread it and it was actually M45S-3 making it a Marine 354 I told him that was not what I was looking for and said no thank you. I have a feeling though that someone could get it for a lot less than the $2,500.00
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