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The dark side is pulling me in

lycomingkid

lycomingkid

Well-known member
Well it has come down to the nitty gritty between staying with aircraft or going to an LS car motor. I have been weighing the odds on the two and it looks like I’m being pulled in by the dark side and also with av gas being over $6 a gallon now in my area that pump gas is looking better by the day 😅😅. I will be going with a 5.3 and building it from the ground up and hoping to reach the 400-450hp mark while going the NA route I know it would be more achievable with injection but I’m more of a NA engine guy over injection but that’s just my opinion. I’m headed this afternoon to go pick up the motor
 
Do it. 33 years nothing but airplane engines for me. Bone stock 2015 L83 now. Love it.
 

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Kwan I’ll continue to run the little 170 on my Stossel until I have everything to completely do the build that’s including building a new motor stand cage/seat stand and it’ll take me longer to save up for the gearbox and prop than it will to build up the motor and with my boat being 7ft wide it has me limited to how big of a prop that I can turn which is at a maximum of 78 inches if I have everything figured out right on that
 
By no means am I an expert on this but I just built my cousin a 5.3 for his boat. It made 400 hp @5600 and 400 tq @ 4700. Pump gas motor 9.9 to 1 compression. Stock crank, Eagle SIR 6.125 rods, D.S.S. forged pistons, Texas Speed Truck cam and dual spring kit, GM 863 heads, Smith brothers trunnion upgrade, double roller timing chain, PRW SFI balancer and ARP main studs and head bolts. Built for abuse! He's swinging an 80 Sensensich 3 blade NGQ with a 2.37 Stinger. I chose the truck cam to make the power lower, a bigger stick would produce more up higher but with the cubic inch deficit this is what was decided. Now that being said the 5.3 block is 3.780 standard bore, they have enough meat to go .120 to 3.900 making it a 5.7 with the 3.625 stroke crank. The more inches would definitely help. 6.0 block is the obvious choice but pricey and scarce. Just my .02 cents.
 
For the price I’m getting the 5.3 for is the reason why I haven’t gotten a 6.0. And also this motor has already been disassembled checked for cracks in the block
 
Roger that. Like I said if pickers we're chosers a 6.0 is the best choice. The 6.0 and 5.3 have the same stroke. If you bore it to 3.900 for 5.7 pistons, you would only be .100 smaller than a 6.0. Not that much as far as displacement goes. I bored his 5.3 .030 to 3.810, easier to get pistons. In stock trim the 5.3 made a max of 320 hp/380tq. I went with 6.125 rod also for piston choice. Stock rods are 6.098. IMO the 5.3 is a pretty good bang for the buck. Do the trunnion upgrade for sure, stock rockers like to spit the uncaged needle bearings out and then they take a tour of the lubrication system!
 
hdsadey said:
Roger that. Like I said if pickers we're chosers a 6.0 is the best choice.
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I'm just gonna disagree and say a true chooser goes aluminum 6.2.
lycomingkid said:
and with my boat being 7ft wide it has me limited to how big of a prop that I can turn which is at a maximum of 78 inches if I have everything figured out right on that
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Kid,
Congratulations on the new build, I suggest you stick with your plan of staying cheap with the pullout L83 for now, focus on building the boat for future motor options, they all fit the same template as the 5.3.

While you didn't post details of the new hull, stand by on settling on the 78" limit and watch my thread. I think I got the 80" prop/2.68 gear solution figured out for my build, a weekend of sand blasting helps with the thinking. I rented the water sand blaster again for this weekend with another 30 bags of sand to clean out the inside of my hull, so details are coming.

kwanjangnihm said:
Say it ain't so RJ ☹️ first Slidin and now you!!
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lycomingkid said:
Kwan I’ll continue to run the little 170 on my Stossel until I have everything to completely do the build
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Kwan,
You need to write this down for future reference, cause this is how Men think. Kid ain't gonna be down for what is it? 3 years of Southern NO-AIRBOAT for you now?? No Sir, Kid is gonna ride and slide while building the ultimate sled. See, Kid is a thinker, ya always gotta be building the next boat while you still got a runnin boat!

3 years from now, the Kid's gonna be trying to decide to either rebuild the 170 Stossel or sell it and start the next new build.

3 years from now, Kwan's gonna be blown up the weekend we are supposed to go for a ride, so I will have to put the 3rd rider grass rake jump seat down low for ya.

A buddy of mine once told me "only dogs should ride there."

Just sayin.
 
Slidin I’ll be sticking with my same hull that the 170 is on now a 12x7 welded Stossel hull which is why I’m limited to a prop diameter of 78 inches . As for what I’m gonna do with the 170 when I’m completely done with the “new build” I’m gonna have the 170 gone through and freshened back up to put on a lighter boat.
 
Ok you got me there but a 6.2 is awfully expensive on the used market. I was comparing iron blocks. If ya wanna pull out all the stops let's throw in a Dart LS Next aluminum block take it to 4.185 with a 4.250 crank make a 468 and really bring on the horses!
 
lycomingkid said:
Slidin I’ll be sticking with my same hull that the 170 is on now
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Damit,
Kwan, I can't find no eat my words emoji, we good? Kid, get your stuff together:)
hdsadey said:
Ok you got me there but a 6.2 is awfully expensive on the used market. I was comparing iron blocks. If ya wanna pull out all the stops let's throw in a Dart LS Next aluminum block take it to 4.185 with a 4.250 crank make a 468 and really bring on the horses!
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hd,
You right for sure, pickers and choosers being differentiated by what they bring home from the junkyard day by day. Once you go to buld a motor beyond stock, the difference between a top of the line junkyard 6.2 pic and a Dart block is not that much money for sure.

For Good Friday, I ask forgiveness for my junkyard sins:
  1. Yanked a 4 bbl Qjet marine intake manifold off an other wise good looking 4.3, left the rest to rot at the junkyard because I have enough 4.3 parts.
  2. Pulled the front output shaft out of a 70's dodge NP 203 transfer case because they are 32 spline vs the smaller GM shafts. Left the rest behind because I have enough NP 203 parts (other than 32 spline front output shafts).
  3. Multiple times I have taken the passenger captains chair out of a junk truck for my buggy, left the rest behind.
 
It’ll take me some time to build and gather up the costly parts (gearbox,prop etc.) but in the end I believe I’ll have one heck of a boat when it’s done. One thing is for sure I can’t complain about the little 170 it has always gotten me from point A to point B and back every time and has definitely put me in places that I didn’t think I’d be able to get into and back out and have only had to get out and shake the rake a handful of times and I blame those times on me 100%
 
In time when I’m able to do so (in a few years) I’ll have a 13-14ft Stossel/Booth hull built to swap the LS into
 
YOU will wonder why you did not do it long ago. Take whatever car motor and get a NOS system of around 200hp. I have both, a 0540 straight valve with 10;1 and a 125 shot on a 13x 7.6 alumitec and a 16x8 alumitec with a 489 BBC and a 125 shot...I run the car motor 90% of the time....I grew up on aircraft and would not sell my 0540 but the power and dependability of a car motor is hands down better...Just make sure you get a metal hull....you run over it all and keep going....
 

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Best in overall value goes to the 5.3

Best pull out stock performance $ LS3

Can’t go wrong either way if you don’t get crazy.

SwampThang has friends that boost up take out 5.3s for track play and get longevity out of stock bottom ends.

HD is giving good advice just like the old Caddy’s needed upgrading the valve train is money well spent.
 
RJ when you have a few minutes read this thread: "Build a Fuel efficient Four Passenger Quieter Airboat". It has a lot of great info!

"Build a Fuel Efficient Four Passenger Quieter Airboat"

I have been following the recent posts by David Wine (Water Walker) and by private email, I asked him to send me the article he once mentioned back to me that he wrote. He did and I found it interesting enough to feel it is worth posting here for all to see. It would be interesting to see...
southernairboat.com

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Slidin Gator said:
Damit,
Kwan, I can't find no eat my words emoji, we good? Kid, get your stuff together:)
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When I have time in the morning I will post pictures of the block heads crank and other miscellaneous parts that came with it
 
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