My father has a 20 foot boat from 76'. It has a mercruiser 302 with a 2bbl and 188hp. Does anyone know about this motor as far as what kind of rotating assembly this thing has, what it has for a cam in it and what heads it has? Thanks!

 

are you sure it's a ford motor? it was my impression that ALL mercruisers were chevy motors. every one me and my family have owned have been chevy's.

 

I have a 73 model boat (19½' Sea Ray) with that exact same drivertrain. Merc's model number for it was "888" (what it says on the outdrive). Some came with a Rochester 2-barrel, others (like mine) came with a Holley 2-barrel. They also put out an otherwise very similar 230 HP Windsor 351 with the usual Holley 4-barrel.

Don't know too much about the internals, I've never had to have mine apart.

You should be able to contact a boat store, with that model #, and get more info. I doubt the cam and heads are anything to be proud of; but it probably has a forged crank, most boat motors do.

 

I can't remember what year exactly but Mercruiser did eventually get away from the **** motors. I think it was mid to early 80's when they stopped using them.

You will probably have to tear it down to really find any info that you want to know about it.

 

Yeah, and strangest of all, Carl Kiekhafer used to be a Chrysler guy when he first started. I guess he gradually got more wisdom with age. During a summer job with Carl in the mid-'70s, they were already using Chevys in some applications. Ford started steering its engines toward the jet boat manufacturers.

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LBC,

Be careful of that 302. It might be reverse rotation, depending on the application. Even though most of them were supposed to be reserved for dual-installation service, some got out as singles.