Volvo white motor in boat??

Post by **precopster** » 07 Dec 2010, 04:10

Has anybody had any experience with or knows somebody who has adapted a Volvo white motor for use in a watercraft?

I believe that with the right injection system and computer, safe sparkless electrics and careful detail these wonderful engines would do a great job.

As the 20 & 24 valve versions are leaning toward top end performance would a 10 valve twin cam version be more suited to this application? Heaven knows Penta motors are great engines, but surely some newer technology in the water would be nice?

Post by **Ozark Lee** » 07 Dec 2010, 16:18

One of my neighbors at the lake has a red block 4 cylinder (B230x) Volvo engine but it has a carburetor.

Most of the new Mercruisers and Pentas have fuel injected engines so I don't think that the fuel system would cause any real problems. My only concern about putting one in is the low end torque. The white blocks aren't exactly stump pullers. My 850 turbo has about the same rated horsepower as the Chevy 350 in my boat and I'm sure it would run cheaper in terms of gallons per hour - I just don't know if I could get a skier up with it while it tries to wind up. I have a 21 ft Cobalt and the boat itself is fairly heavy even without the drag of a skier.

There would need to be some modifications to get the thing to mount and bolt up but I can't see any reason not to try it but I would use the heat exchanger system for cooling so that I could keep coolant in the system rather than lake water or - God forbid - salt water.

...Lee

Post by **JDS60R** » 07 Dec 2010, 17:30

If you could keep the engine warm you should have no issue. The high heat while under boost combined with very cold coolant can casue some issues. Turbo engines need a little heat to run well. If you can find a way to keep it around 190 degrees without a sudden cooling shock ( lake water) you should be fine. Give an appropriate sized excahnger a T-5 would be a good motor as the torque comes in early and strong when needed. You will need a high pressure fuel pump with return line and a fire arrestor.

Post by **precopster** » 08 Dec 2010, 04:46

Thanks fellas!!

Been doing some investigation into sparkless electrics for boats. Here in Oz there are some laws regarding water vessels (as I'm sure there would be in the U.S and Britain) The alternator and starter need to be heavily shielded against creating sparks as low lying fuel vapors have no means of escape in a poorly vented engine enclosure. Fans which draw the vapors away are ideally used in the low lying engine box.
So far it is feasible to build a white block motor but I'm leaning toward a B6304 with a twin turbo setup from a S80. Pistons, rings, conrods, sodium filled exhaust valves and other go-fast gear could be sourced from the B5254 engine (which shares bore & stroke with the 2922cc six) and inlet & exhaust manifolds from the S80 engine should bolt up, though I'm not sure of this yet.

In Australia there is a serious lack of S80s to source entire engines from at reasonable cost, so that's why I'm leaning toward the S80 turbos in the B6304 rather than use the entire S80 engine and I'm thinking of using my own 960 engine as a starting point to keep costs down.

Given the block (anyone seen a turbo B6304??) can stand the higher pressures of turbo life it should work and would be a unique project. Any thoughts, knowledge or experience of this setup would be greatly appreciated.