Engine replacement or not?

[Arne3680]

I'm having a dilemma.
Went to a local boat dealer here in Belgium.

Spare parts here in Europe are quite expensive.
Especially for my 351 commander. There are not many dealers here that can order parts for this engine.

Also I doubt my engine had good maintenance in the past 20 years.
It had some start issues the past 3 years.

This dealer takes me back to his worplace and shows me a 1996 ford 351 PCM engine.
900hrs and a good maintenance every year.
An engine that has been taken good care of.

If I replace it, it would cost me €2500.
If I don't replace it, I will have to replace my carb, fix my waterpump, new ignition, new waterhoses, etc. + €1000
And what will it be next year?

The overall wiring of the engine also is a mess. So that's going to need replacement too. (see photo below)



Would a replacement be worth it?

[RonT]

I see several altered areas on that engine, carb being one of them (manual choke?) If your compression is good your existing motor appears to be very usable with a few new parts. IF the available engine is a suitable replacement, AND if parts are that difficult to get I would probably get the other and have both. 900 hours on a well maintained engine is midway in its life.

[Arne3680]

There are some altered areas indeed.
The exhausts are from an Indmar and a manual choke. placed by my uncle (Automotive carb.)
This engine has 1200+ hrs.

What do you mean with a suitable replacement?

So replace the engine and keep this for spare parts is a good option?

[RonT]

What did the "new" engine come out of and why? Engine rotation is primary issue, must be LeftHand (as viewed from the tranmission end) or standard automotive rotation, not Right Hand typically found in older Ski Nautiques. If its an Indmar with a front crank driven water pump you may have to adjust the motor box cover forward to clear the pump. Wire harness connector may be a different plug, older ones used a rectangular 8 pin plug, newer motors use a round 8 pin plug. Who is installing the engine? Does it include a trans?

[Arne3680]

The engine came out a correct craft. Don't know which one exactly.
It came out because of an accident with the boat.
I didn't ask about the rotation. But i'm going down there next week for some more questions. especially about the rotation.
The water pump on my commander is on the front side driven by the crank (through a belt.)
The connector was rectangular, just like my engine.
It's going to be installed by a mechanic from Nautic Marine center Overpelt.
It's a garage that only works with boats. Mostly ski/wakeboard boats.
It doesn't include a trans. Could that be a problem? According to the mecanic it would not be a problem because its a Ford - Ford switch.

[RonT]

Belt driven water pumps require less length, crank driven (direct drive, no belts) pumps add another 3-4inches of length. It sounds like an older Correct Craft with the rectangular plug, I doubt its left hand like you need. Don't install a right hand engine in an A/S boat.

[backfoot100]

I doubt its left hand like you need.

Never ever thought I would say this you could be a teeny weeny bit off here Ron.

In 89 CC went to the 1:23 tranny which reverses rotation. They finally wised up and found another alternative to make the prop go backwards instead of the expensive traditional way of reverse rotation tooling. Anyway, the 1:1BW was still an option for a few years but it was pretty rare. The latest one I've ever heard of was a 92 or 93. That engine should be LH if it came out of a DD.
Another exception might be if it came out of a V-Drive. There has always been debate about the V-drive itself reversing rotation in addition to the tranny. That period was early on in the V-Drives history so the tranny/V-Drive combination was inconsistent.

I would be more concerned if its carbed or FI. Wiring it in may take someone with some knowledge and experience to be able to get it running.

[RonT]

GOOD CATCH-
OK I admit I missed the 1996 part of the description of the potential replacement, I  was fixated  on the wire harness, a call minutes before that post was with a customer with similar issues and we were working out the wire harness plug, his donor Correct Craft engine was a RH carb motor & he was swapping the engine harness over. I agree that a CC built in 1996 most likely had EFI the long straw would be that if built for export all bets are off as we all did some strange things for that market. They are the only ones A/S built diesels for, skiers had to hold their nose, just as the skiier would pop out of the water there would be a cloud of black smoke waiting for your first breath. 

[backfoot100]

Diesel AmSkier. Wow, would that be cool to see.