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What is the most durable automotive engine for airboats?

G

Grem62483

Member
I live here in southern Louisiana and a few of my family members and friends own air boats. My brother has a alumitech with the 385 fastburn, I have regular 350 and a friend of mine has a 454. We were just talking about longevity of the motors and my friend says that the 454 is the most durable and long lasting engine for airboats. He was saying that you dont have to turn such high RPMs to get the torque out of the 454 where as with the 350s you do. I am not a mechanic in any means and I do realize that automotive engines are not designed for airboats but what in your opinion is the most durable and long lasting motor? We are not running these boats everyday just doing some hunting and fishing . We do have to run dry across marsh somtimes but for the most part just cruising around. We are just curious what other air boat owners think about this. Cant wait to see what you have to say. thanks
 
For where your at, hands down nothing could do you better than the 496 Levitator Engine.
it's a bullet proof engine, runs on 87 octane.
Go to http://www.levitatorengines.com and read about it. I absolutley love this engine!

Also has a full 1 year warranty.
Chev. crate motors no longer have any warranty when placed in an airboat!
 
oh oh here we go , evry body knows the motor they have on there boat is the most powerful and duruble,
 
Levitator Questions.

#1)Is this 496 levitator a GM crate motor, and does the company that allegedly converts this engine to a marine engine dis-assemble the original GM crate motor and zero deck the block?
#2) Are the suspected hyperuetectic pistons thrown away and the block honed and fitted with forged pistons?
#3) Is the rotating assembly balanced after the fact?
#4) Is the oiling system re-designed for airboat use?
#5)Are the suspect GM crate motor valves thrown away and substituted with a high quality after market valve?
#6)Is the crate engine camshaft thrown away and a camshaft chosen with the idea of making peak torque @ governed RPM?
#7) Is the engine re-assembled and set up with tolerances that are airboat friendly?
#8)Finally, after all this, Is the engine test run, checking for oil leaks, and fuel injection system tuned with a water brake as load?

Somebody's know the answer to these questions

:wink:
 
Capt. Brackin and his 496...Marine version......its heavy, but he runs LOTS of hours on this boat, and others....no problems...fuel injested as well
Budsdayandmore_1541.jpg
 
Looks too much like a conflict of interest thread, so I'll avoid this one. LOL

Felber
 
If the boat is 15ft or over go with a big block if it's 14 or under I would run a small block! I have several 600HP plus motor with over a 1,000 hours on them with nothing but oil changes for maintenance! Of coarse as the HP levels drop, all motors become more reliable but I haven't encountered any problems yet with any of our motors at any HP level! To be honest the only problem I ever had was with a BeeHive valve spring and the manufacture had a recall on the spring and those in the know have heard about all the Beehive issues and law suits! There are so many levels of engines one motor can't be the best for everybody so I build a different motor for EACH application right now I'm biding on a twin engine work boat that will be hauling over 4,000lbs of gear running dry obviously a crate engine will not last a day under these conditions! Anyway my first question would be What do you want your boat to do best and how big is it!
 
id go with bb caddie 500 or 455 buick SB id say a 383 or a 350 or for the big spenders LS MOTORS
 
Thunder Small Blocks are awesome.

my reccommendation would be a 496 for S. La. in a big boat or Thunder in a small boat.
 
The Levitator is a very durable engine a little heavy but that is beacuse it is built off of a diesel block if I am not mistaken.
 
OK..I couldn't resist the conflict of interest/self promoting since it looks to have already gone that way. But I'll try to make this educational/food for thought to some of you guys from my side of the fence, rather than push one engine or the other.

The Levitator or the GM 8.1 is a very good engine. Being under an electronic engine management system it's relaibilty should be on similar grounds as if it were in a car/truck AKA last forever. Many of the other crate engines will do well also as long as they aren't modified or abused..

The thing that makes it very difficult for you guys when choosing a powerplant is the TRUE HP/TQ/Thrust you actually need and/or want in a real-world application. If you wanna be the fastest guy on the water with a big-ass boat, don't expect it to log as many hours as a Levitator. If you wanna have a decked-out boat, carry 4 people and a hull full of decoys and coolers, don't choose a small displacement engine. And if you want those hours, don't bitch when it takes a dragline and PVC to get you out of where you shouldn't have went.

So when choosing an engine be aware that there's no way to have your cake and eat it too. Thunder and myself work morning, noon and night breaking the rules of performance and reliability, but neither of us are going to build wimpy engines that don't make even 1HP per cubic inch in order to obtain reliabilty nor are we going to build ragged-edge race engines that not only prove unreliable, but don't really perform in an airboat application.

Dave and I started working on revolutionary powerplants for airboats about 10 years ago. In all honesty from a racing perspective, the feild seemed to be easy pickins. But the reliability and true airboat performance in practical applications has taken countless engines, time, and hard knocks to get it right (Where we've learned the most AIRBOAT engines are very differnt than automotive engines X10). BOY do I wish I could take back the years spent buildin twin turbos, Supercharged mountain motors etc, and havin people complain they didn't last as long as their crate 502. Hmmmm Lemme see....502HP vs 1200HP based on the same basic engine design. Hey..Get a clue, no amount of money will beat the physics/math. Sh!t a MEGA buck Nextel Cup engine makes ~800HP with the BEST parts known to man and after a couple hours most everything is thrown away. Know why? Cuz they need it reliable while making over 2HP per cubic inch. If they made 500HP they wouldn't change friggin spark plugs between races.

So in reality..All it takes to make an engine reliable is to detune the hell out of it and make it big, heavy and beefy enough that it will outlive it's warranty. Hell...I can make my 496s detuned to a candy-ass 500HP and they'll live so long I'll feel like the friggin Maytag man.

So in my opinion/best advice...Do your homework. Nothin's magic. Reliability is the sum of the parts used, the person/company that put the package together and the level they're pushed to.

That's my rant and best advice.
Felber
 
Sorry Davie...I couldn't resist an oportunity for a good one-liner. :)

Felber
 
Hey Mike, one liners make good points. I had somebody tell me Thursday they wanted a 1,000HP motor on pump gas to haul a boat full of gear and be dead reliable!I looked him in they eye and said "even money can't over come the laws of physics"! Safe to say I didn't sell him a motor. I'm sure somebody some where will lie to him and say they can or already have done it! And Mike you are right if you make 1HP per cubic inch and put all types of oil shut off and water temp shut offs sensors they will live till the end of fossil fuel! The easiest way to make a motor more reliable is to take away horsepower!
 
The way i heard it tonight Felber is the MAYTAG man now. So we know that Felber will now just be sitting around petting his dog.

Couldn't resist Felber.
 
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