Theoretical application of Falcon 6: In a boat?

Hunter · 18-06-2007, 05:16 PM

Just sitting around thinking (yes I realise this can be dangerous) and I was wondering how well a Falcon i6 motor (either barra or pre-barra) would fare as a boat motor?

I figured it'd be good because its got nice low-end torque and is fairly durable. Anyone seen this done before?

P.S. Before anyone makes reference to the Falcon 6 already being in a boat, I've heard it before

sfr rob · 18-06-2007, 05:35 PM

why would it be dangerous?
take a look at some of our boats down here at the vic drag boat club......
how big a boat are we talking??

BPXR6T · 18-06-2007, 05:38 PM

Think he was saying the fact he was thinking is dangerous...

Hunter · 18-06-2007, 05:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FourBarrel

Think he was saying the fact he was thinking is dangerous...

Yes that's right. Sitting around with not much to do and an empty head can lead to ideas which can be dangerous

:

Quote:

Originally Posted by sfr rob

why would it be dangerous?
take a look at some of our boats down here at the vic drag boat club......
how big a boat are we talking??

Dunno, I was just wondering how well the motor would go in a marine setting pulling a boat along.

**Peuty** · 18-06-2007, 05:40 PM

I have seen old 186/202 Holden motors in boats before, but nothing beats the sounds of a V8 with open pipes resonating off the water.

As to your question, don't see why it couldn't be done...

Outbackjack · 18-06-2007, 05:49 PM

I think that most boaties go for the V8 motors for power to weight ratios. But also they are usually physically shorter and "flatter" .

18-06-2007, 06:04 PM

The tugboat sound of the I6 would suit such a vessel.

sfr rob · 18-06-2007, 06:05 PM

Sorry bloke, I thought you were saying the idea of putting an I6 into a boat was dangerous

:
yeah you can go the I6 for something different, but i reckon you would get bored way too quick, because you need a fair bit of grunt to really get moving.
I know of a blown Boss 260 that will be dropped into a stephens hull soon

BigAL_250 · 18-06-2007, 06:09 PM

Well, many of the last 351's ended up in boats, and Ford I6's have been putting out more power than those for the last decade.

Dezza · 18-06-2007, 06:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peuty

I have seen old 186/202 Holden motors in boats before, but nothing beats the sounds of a V8 with open pipes resonating off the water.

My dad's boat has a Holden 179 'red motor' straight 6, and it goes pretty well. Easily enough power for water skiing. If an old 179 could do it, then a BA 4.0 litre should do it easy.

CAMS290 · 18-06-2007, 09:32 PM

Rolco do a 6 cylinder Ford conversion, and have done for years, they even have jet units available.

www.kmrolco.com

BA_Turbs · 18-06-2007, 09:40 PM

Forget 351s in boats....

Marinize an XR6 Turbo motor!

FPVTurboTaxi · 18-06-2007, 09:44 PM

There used to be powerboat racing in the noosa river before the greenies stuffed it
the festival of the waters was an awesome event and one boat comes to mind , it was called v8eater . it was a 3.3 /200 6 cyl out of a xe falcon , it was turboed useing a turbo off a nissan diesel truck runnin 26 lb boost , it was reportably making 600 hp at the prop and ate everthing in its path . it was an awsome machine

having said that petrol motors in inboard motors i hate !!! they go bang .. !!!!!

woodsy109 · 18-06-2007, 09:52 PM

Mate had an 250 crossflow in a fishing boat. Was really bad on fuel so he swapped it for a toyota diesel.

Have you even stated what application you want to use it for. Obviously an I6 is going to be more suited to lighter boats that don't require as much torque to get them moving.

svo 087 · 19-06-2007, 12:51 AM

hi all,a fella in ballarat has an ef 4.o in an old bondwood/fibreglass social boat it has an ea cfi manifold fitted with 500 holley ,xe elec dizzy with the drive gear turned upside down runs perfect pulls up skier no probs and wake boarding behind it is xclent,so couldnt see why a ba six would be so bad..cheers

kayric · 29-12-2016, 05:08 PM

http://www.fordforums.com.au/showthread.php?t=11444075

have done it and very happy with result

baboon · 29-12-2016, 05:17 PM

Nice work kayric!

malazn mafia · 29-12-2016, 07:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BA_Turbs

Forget 351s in boats....

Marinize an XR6 Turbo motor!

Well I always wanted an XR6 turbo powered light aircraft, but would probably be too nose heavy to take off

EBSXR6 · 29-12-2016, 07:32 PM

A mate had a 250 from an XY and it worked well as a ski boat.

Mercury Bullet · 29-12-2016, 10:29 PM

Power to weight wouldn't be the best but no reason why it can't be done.

I always wanted to put an Allison C20-250 into one of my bullets, could never get around the constant speed output shaft, even though they were a free turbine engine.
450kw in a 150lb package.

jakkes · 30-12-2016, 03:33 PM

a barra in a social ski boat would work really well.... other than the shear size of the I6 its a hard engine to package in that size of a boat its to tall and long. a mid size v8 is so much easier to fit under the engine cover

the other thing is all the electronic's in a humid wet environment even worse if its salt water.

.:4:. · 30-12-2016, 03:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jakkes

a barra in a social ski boat would work really well.... other than the shear size of the I6 its a hard engine to package in that size of a boat its to tall and long. a mid size v8 is so much easier to fit under the engine cover

the other thing is all the electronic's in a humid wet environment even worse if its salt water.

If the boat was a mid mount and you had the means to customize the engine hatch etc then it wouldn't be impossible. I can see what you mean by the Barra being a long and tall motor. In something like my boat, being a sterndrive, unless you relocated the under floor tank or made it smaller there would be no hope of fitting a barra in the space the v6 has, it would stick out past the back seat. There was a limited run of 350ci/330hp v8s made latter on in the model I have but they weren't available to the general public. 330hp in a 5.3m boat... I wish. But for now 220 will have to surfice

commodorenutt · 30-12-2016, 03:59 PM

20-25 years ago I worked for a leading boat engine company.

While there were a number of V8 options that we sold (Chev SB/BB & Ford Cleveland based stern drive engines) there was also a number of other engines you don't hear much about.

One was a 2.3L version of the OHC Pinto - not sure what it would power, but sold about 1/2 dozen a year.
A crude fuel injected Buick 4.3L was another - like a big brother to the Commodore V6, but ran throttle body EFI and an electronic dizzy.

There were also some I6s - one was based on a 250ci Chev I6 (looked like a bigger brother of the Holden red 6).

But one that caught my eye one day was a diesel I6, about 5.5L in capacity. It was bloody huge for what it was. I remember the torque was double the Holden EFI V8 at the time - close to 800Nm, and the horsepower was pretty poor by comparison - something like 250hp, but at really low revs.

Obviously that diesel wouldn't be going in a ski boat... but the 4.0T could easily reside in it's place, and use a W2A intercooler - using a closed system with a seawater exhange - and make very healthy numbers.