I have a low mileage 460 out of a 96 F350.
I have marine water logs from a 70's carb'd 460 I hope to adapt,
water pump delete plate, and some other stuff to install this engine into a 26' mini day cruiser.


I will admit, im a straight up rookie when it comes to these computerized engines.
im looking for options on power increases, and wiring
I do have a electrical and vacuum manual


does anyone have a site that will help me along?
I want to learn more about said engine and how to put this engine in my boat with all of the EFI set-up


id like to think I have the skill to get this done, and im not really afraid of it.




thanks.

 

What kind of boat is that? What do you use it for? I ask because what I suggest for power is going to be dictated by the type of boat it is.

Marine manifolds might not bolt up, they could be set up for carb heads which, if I'm not mistaken, will require re drilling the 460 heads to get them to fit properly.

The old speed density efis are easy swap candidates, you picked a good one. You'll need the engine harness and computer in the engine bay but that's about it for the logistics of the management.

 

the boat is a closed bow 26' 1978 Avenger Jet boat.
its got a Berkley AA pump with a stainless impeller
my intentions are to get the kids out on the water this summer.
and overnighters on the water with bond fires on the beach.
its just a cruiser, nothing fast. im hoping to achieve 55 mph.
with turn key ability. fresh water use only.
I have other boats I can take out if I wanna go fast.


im a machinist by trade, so adapting the waterlogs wont be too bad, I was thinking about making a 1/2" stainless flange if they don't match up properly.
if the heads have to be redrilled, that's an awesome excuse to get stainless steel valves.


I have the harness and the computer out of the truck. I just gotta read the dreaded wiring schematics and delete everything I don't need and keep the important stuff.


one of my concerns are the 02 sensors. I don't know if I can replumb them or delete them. I would like to have another 50-100 hp than stock.
I need to do some more homework, but im 1/2 of a bronco away from starting this project.

 

That's a fun boat.

If you don't mind running 93, bump the compression to 10.5:1 by milling the heads. A thorough port job, matching the intake to the ports *after* milling is complete will make everything line up better.

Your cam selection is limited to what will work with speed density, but that's OK because it'll be a good cam selection for a boat application.

I don't know what your target max rpm is though, that combo will likely pull 5500 with a realistic power band to 5000 or a little below.

The o2 sensor will take some ingenuity, if you built an adapter for the logs you could bung it there, but I don't think it'd be easy to keep it away from the exhaust water.

 

Another idea, depending on the configuration of your engine bay (how much space) would be long tubes with lots of header wrap. You may need do dump them into a custom water setup, but it's an idea. The long tubes would give a solid bump in power too.

 

I have some elephant elbows that go up to a 180* bend and on the other side is where the water is introduced. the manifold and elbows are "innercooled"
so im hoping to interrupt inbetween the manifold and elbow.


honestly I have no real power expectations at this time.
it had a carb'd 460 in it previously until a pushrod decided to give the rotating assembly a big ole hug. that's what happens when you pop out of the water and hit over 6 lol (went from a 6k pill to a 7k pill and destroyed it)
that was a damn nice engine.


I don't need to go fast, as my children are not even 2 yet.
I think for this winter im gonna just get the engine in and running before I do any mods to it.
maybe some computer flashing?
hell may just leave it as is!




I own a few v-drive flatbottoms,
heres a pic of "bella", the boat in question.
and ill throw one in of "Vuan JAMES Vuan"


old pic of Bella, and that lill boy is now 17. best I can come up with right now.

 

There is nothing you can do to the computer unless you have a 460 California mass air donor, in which case you should go buy lotto tickets as well.

Play with the timing, with a 140-160* thermostat there is plenty of room to advance.

I'd clean up the bowls (heads) at the very least, it'll help with fuel econ.

 

that's exactly what this is, a mass air flow EFI set up,
thermostats on boats are nothing but a ball valve.
I uahhhh... kinda... stripped the truck, for my brick nose build.
don't hate me lol

 

Most boats that I've seen with inboard V8s actually do have a thermostat. Usually a low temperature one though, around 160*F.

With a mass-air 460, you've got some room to make mods without having to touch the computer. Maximum RPM will be limited though -around 4500-4700 RPM IIRC. So you'll need to change prop to get the most out of it.

 

Nice pair of flatties in that pic. I've had my share of boats, from a small outboard up to a Kinsvater 20' low profile family skier.

If it were me, I would be putting a set of carb heads, an Edelbrock manifold, an 850 cfm marine Holley and a marine Accel or Mallory distributor on that motor.

There are no real advantages to running EFI on the water, unless you're running a true stand alone system that does not require an O2 sensor.

I've helped tune a Fast EZ-EFI (first generation) on a 350 Chebbie/Berkeley pump. That setup was in an 18' Sanger clone but we found the O2 sensors really don't like getting wet. We had an aluminum spacer between the water manifolds and the water traps to mount the sensors but enough water gets back into the manifolds when you back off that it was killing the sensors.

We tried clocking the sensors but it always got too much water back into the manifolds to keep them alive. We also had to plumb in a Jabsco water pump and thermostat system to get the engine warm enough to run right.

The bottom line was, the boat was faster and less troublesome with the 600 Holley.

Just my $0.02 USD worth. You can take what I offer with a grain of salt.

 

The Ford EFI system will actually run more or less fine with no O2 sensors.

 

Especially under constant load conditions like a boat.

 

Will it stay in open loop mode? How does the system determine rich/lean with no O2 sensor? To suggest that could happen, means the system is running from a preset fuel map that would have to very rich to ensure the engine didn't run lean enough to destroy itself.

I don't know about not needing the O2 sensor, that doesn't sound right. Most Fords that have a bad or disconnected O2 sensor don't run right.

The only option that I see to keep the ford EFI manifold/throttle body/injectors is to find a stand-alone PCM that doesn't require an O2 sensor to run. So far I have not found one listed anywhere.

The other thing I would be concerned with is the built-in rev limiter. It starts coming in at 4200 rpm and it's all in at 4500 or so. WOT operation would be banging against that rev limiter, which isn't good for an engine.

I still stand by my first suggestion, to convert it to a carbed engine. There is an adaptor plate made to bolt a Holley to the EFI manifold, if you didn't want to change the heads/manifold. Would still need a marine distributor, though. Link for adaptor plate; CS-460EFI

 

so I take it, these computers cant be flashed, chipped, or modified at all?
I apologize for my ignorance, the only electronic fuel controlled background I have is my powerstrokes.
im starting to get the feeling that this will be a complete waste.

 

It stays in open loop, yes, and it runs off of programmed tables based off of map, tps, and in his case, maf readings (calculating load). It's not optimal, but it does work. I do believe the maf systems are less forgiving in this regard than old speed density, I've owned dozens of these old SD systems and a faulty or unplugged o2 sensor has never given me any real troubles.

I think the only way to get an o2 to work on a boat is either a dry exhaust system or a custom setup. The custom setup would have to include headers into a water manifold right before the transom, or a custom adapter that has a tube coming off one of the exhaust ports that dumps further downstream and doesn't go directly into the wet manifold. Unfortunately, even if you did this, there's no guarantee it will have any longevity because even steam generated after shutoff can destroy the o2.