165 cylinder head
 

Okay gang, I just joined the group today and am posting my first question.

Just bought my first boat. 74 V20 with 165 engine. Seller said all was good so I gave him $1000.00 for the entire package. Connected the water hose and proceeded to fill the oil crankcase with water in under a minute of running. Okay motor is scrap. Well I can be rather resourseful when it comes to finding another engine. I didn't have to look far. The old Massey Ferguson Combine had the exact same 165 GM engine in it. So, now it is in the boat. She runs great! Loads of power and seems to have decent speed. No complaints at all. Just wondering if I should have swapped the original cylinder head to this engine. Can anyone tell me if the Mercruiser head had better performance than the the one from the combine?....Okay you can all quit laughing now. Just wondering if valve sizes were different.
Boat has been running at 4000 RPM and mantaining a 150-160 degree tempeature.

Re: 165 cylinder head
 

I could not tell you........but welcome here, I also have a 74 CC O/B.....a lot of good people here. YOU NEED TO POST PICTURES HERE IT'S A REQUIREMENT.....Ted

Re: 165 cylinder head
 

Dodgerr, welcome to the greatest forum on the planet...we've had some intersting situations come across here, but yours is unique to be sure...I don't know a friggin' THING about about your motor and wheather or not the Merc head will preform better or not, but what I do know is; "if it ain't broke, don't fix it!" ;) ...even if you do pick up a lil' extra power, you'll prbably pay for it w / more fuel use, so if she's runnin' good, I'd maintain 'er the way she is...but that's just me...there are some motor-heads runnin' around here who'll disagree and they're all great guys :-* and I luvem and all ;D ;D ;D...

Pictures of the V-20 when ya can...and I ain't kiddin' when I say I'd sure like to see a shot or two of the combine that "donated'' a motor to a V-20...should we address cards of condolence to MF? ::) ;D ;D ;D...

.Re: 165 cylinder head
 

The head was most likely the thing that rotted thur, that was the case on my 165.

I replaced the head and all was fine.

so not replacing the head was a good thing!

The only difference between a car (Chevy 250) and Boat motor was, that the freeze plugs were brass so as not to rot out.
And the Boat motor had a different cam in it to give you the 165 HP, Car motor of the same only has 140 HP.

Also boat motor a Marine water pump and other small things, that won't make to much difference other then they will wear out faster.

Good Luck and welcome to the site!

Re: 165 cylinder head
 

I don't know a whole lot about I/O setups, but I thought the cam is different to change the valve timing a bit so that it doesn't end up sucking raw water through the exhaust. ???

Re: 165 cylinder head
 

Welcome to the V20 site. Are you from Canada? Billy Mac ;D

Re: 165 cylinder head
 

STill no Pics. >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:(
;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

Re: 165 cylinder head
 

Pretty sure you're right about that, CB ;) ...

Re: 165 cylinder head
 

Sorry I took so long getting back to you folks. Thanks for your input. I appreciate it. I finally took some pics and made a web page link to it.
I don't know how to put photos in the message box yet.
Another quickie question.... My prop says 21P. Is that too big of a prop? I see other guys talking about a 17-19 pitch prop. Does the higher number mean more speed?
That's it.
Thanks again.

http://chargerrt.homestead.com/wellcraft.html

Re: 165 cylinder head
 

Dodgerr, as mentioned above, I'm not much help on I/Os ::) (so what am I doin' answerin' this question?) ::) ...those prop pitches you mentioned are the right neighborhood for OUTBOARDS, but I don't think they're gonna get it in the I/O world...hopefully some of those guys will chime in here ;) ...

Thanks for the pics/ website!!! great stuff!!!...love the ''wheatfield'' line ;) ;D ;D ...