Hey guys... as those of you who know me knows I just bought a new (used) boat. Its a Rinker Fiesta Vee 300 with Twin Mercruiser small blocks carborated. I will pause for you to regain composure as I know 520 HP is a joke to you all. Those of you who know me well knows Im the furthest thing from a gear head, however my friend Tom noticed that the Carbs were double barreled as opposed to 4 barrel. His assumption was that Mercruiser must have come out with this for Fuel efficiency, however, but will also limit my speed and RPM's. Now I know that we are not talking major speed, but would it be worth it for me to consider changing the carbs out to four barrel to increase my RPM's and speed some or should I just stick to 35 MPH and enjoy the fact that I will be choaking down far less fuel at $6 a gallon? Tom had never seen this before and wondered if you all were familiar with this approach by mercruiser. thanks
Thread: Advise from my gear head friends
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02-07-2012 09:32 AM
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02-07-2012 09:57 AM
Stay with two-barrel and enjoy. Gas is supposed to hit record prices this summer...you don't want to burn more of it if you don't have to.
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02-07-2012 10:03 AMthanks, that was my thought, but I dont know engines very well.
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02-07-2012 10:06 AMRight now I'm with Mike on this. But;
What year is the boat?
I'm assuming Alpha drives?
What do the engines say on them as far as Merc Model?
The Merc guys will know if there are easy, reasonably priced, upgrades that may help and not hurt fuel economy.Getting bad advice is unfortunate, taking bad advice is a Serious matter!!
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02-07-2012 10:17 AM1997 5.7L I dont know the merc Model, I can look this weekend when I go back out there. Has Bravo II's
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02-07-2012 12:16 PM
Would gain HP obviously,,,,, fuel mileage wouldnt be to bad if you kept out of the back barrels.
Worth it $$$$ not really.
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02-07-2012 12:19 PM
Hahaha! When I saw you had posted, I figured it would be to tell him to put fuel injection on it! (Which I have, btw...if the O.P. is interested...)
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02-07-2012 02:25 PM
well ,,,,,now that you mention it,,,,,,,it would improve throttle response,,,,, fuel economy,,,,driveability,,,,ease of start up ( I still have your video )
But again,,,,,not worth the $$$$$
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02-07-2012 02:56 PM
cant say ive ever seen a 350 2bbl. A holley 600 on a dual plane would prob do you well. and you dont have to push the levers all the way forward. theres a huge fuel efficiency difference between 80pct and full throttle on pretty much every boat
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02-07-2012 04:14 PM
I say you go for it John cause if gas is $5/gal I`ll be on your boat every weekend and I wanna go fast dammit!
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02-07-2012 04:34 PMActually, every boat I've owned that I've converted to fuel injection has got much better fuel milage....
No exceptions. Even when I've doubled the horsepower......Getting bad advice is unfortunate, taking bad advice is a Serious matter!!
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02-07-2012 06:00 PM
If you change carbs you might want to think about changing cams, cams won't let but so much fuel mix into the engine. If that engine was engineered for 2- 2 barrels you may have some pretty small cams in it.
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02-07-2012 08:20 PMGreat advise guys! Now who wants to come and do this work for beer! Lol
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02-07-2012 08:21 PMDan, welcome on our boat anytime... Just leave the speedo on the baja!
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02-08-2012 01:17 AM
John, save your money. Your not going to gain much, if anything by just adding a 4 barrel carb to those engines. Even if you gained 10HP, you'll never notice it in that boat. A freshly painted smooth bottom and props are what you wanna focus on!
$6.00 a gallon?? I wish someone would have told me this was happening a few months ago. As a matter of fact, I may be interested in your two barrel carbs John, I'll trade you for 4 850CFM four barrels.
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02-08-2012 11:27 AM
That blower look familiar.. whats next Joe you gonna start blowing Bravos??
I like the red carbs better thou I`ll give you that
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02-08-2012 12:42 PM
Thank you, I too like the red/black carbs. I am glad to be done painting them. Two are totally rebuilt and painted. Need to finish the other two tonight or tomorrow. Painting them while totally apart is a pain in the a$$, but looks a little more trick when assembled. Taping off the top of the carb and painting the whole thing one color would have been alot easier!