New direction for my 21' Liberator
I'm sure most people have seen this boat on other forums...but I finally have finally decided on a new direction for my Liberator.
When I bought the boat, it had a 330hp 454 BBC. Most people have ok-to-good luck with BBCs, but for some reason I am world class at destroying them. Of course, I could also tear up an anvil with a rubber mallet. Anyway, the BBC didn't last long, and out came the 330 horse big block to make room for a 550 horse 383 LS1.
Initially, the LS1 was carbed to save time since the BBC broke in the middle of boating season. After a year, the LS1 was converted from carb to EFI...and it has remained basically unchanged for a couple years now.
I've had a hard time deciding if I really wanted the boat any faster (it runs 82 now); but I figure the nice thing about more power is that when you don't want it...you don't have to mash that pedal all the way down. But this led me to my dilemma - to get more power, I'd really need FI. When I started thinking about this, I wasn't really sure about turbos as water jacketed manifolds (that fit an LS1) and water jacketed turbos are somewhat hard to find - and usually kind of old. That led me to try to decide between a twin screw or centrifugal blower. After weighing the pros and cons of each...I decided neither made me happy. Then, as luck would have it, someone linked me to Retter Engine Development.
Retter is using Tial's new water jacketed turbos with PCM manifolds. This should prove to be a cost effective, under hatch friendly turbo solution that will let me realize my power goals. I'm thinking the cost will come in somewhere between $4500-$5500, and that's not far off from a twin screw or centrifugal setup.
I don't have the turbos yet, and haven't pulled the engine for the piston and cam change...so I will update this when it happens. It won't be in the very near future...but hopefully it won't be too far away.
In the meantime, here's some pics of the boat.
When it had a BBC:
http://i429.photobucket.com/albums/q...ps85a432d0.jpg
http://i429.photobucket.com/albums/q...ps2e94e28a.jpg
With the carbed LS1, these pics were right after the swap was completed:
http://i429.photobucket.com/albums/q...r/DSC04042.jpg
http://i429.photobucket.com/albums/q...r/DSC04045.jpg
As it is now, LS1 with EFI:
http://i429.photobucket.com/albums/q...-31-18_307.jpg
http://i429.photobucket.com/albums/q...-32-00_663.jpg
