That looks like a clean boat. All 470 engines are 4 cylinder 3.7 liter and closed cooled, they had to be as the engine block is aluminum and the head is cast iron. Often called a Ford design becuase 3.7 liters would be roughly one half of the 7.5L 460 cubic inch Ford. This was a mercruiser designed engine with one 460 ford head. They have a very stout bottom end and and yes they can be modified. Most common upgrade would be the oil cooler and 4 bbl carb and intake which mercruiser offered. The 4bbl versions of the 470 series motor were rated at 188/190hp. The 470 engine when it came out in the 1970's had a lot of teething problems. The later versions of the engine in the late 1980's were the best in my opinion and had several upgrades, including a larger 4" heat exchanger, and a better designed manifold and riser. All 470's originally had an expensive watercooled voltage regulator and the stator mounted behind the balancer pulley but many have been converted to a standard alternator set up as the stator likes to fling the glued on magnets. The 470 idles like a tractor pulls like a mule and gets darn good mileage doing it but any 20 plus year old motor needs a mechanical look over.
Brian
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