New direction for my 21' Liberator

[FormulaZR]

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:






With the carbed LS1, these pics were right after the swap was completed:






As it is now, LS1 with EFI:

[GotHalos]

Very cool welcome.

[Last Mohican]

Love this boat. Have seen it in person a few times. Can't wait to see how it responds to the upgrades.

[FormulaZR]

Very cool welcome.

Thanks.

Love this boat. Have seen it in person a few times. Can't wait to see how it responds to the upgrades.

I appreciate that - I am also looking forward to seeing how it responds.

Currently, Retter has the A/R on the turbos sized smaller than what I *think* I want. (The kits he's working on are more tailored to the rpm of an outdrive). However, I will try them as spec'd to see how they work. I'm thinking they may still not be right, but they could move my power curve down far enough to put a big impeller in and keep the revs low. If not, it's a very very small fee to trade them out for turbos with a different A/R.

My goal, power wise, it's 650-700 hp "all the time", but have the ability to go up to much higher hp numbers on "occasion".

As much as I think I really don't care to go faster than my boat currently does, it would be extremely nice to have extra power on tap for special situations...and also, I'm pretty thrilled about maybe moving my power curve down.

[jdg911]

I like the fuel injection, perfect for a cruiser