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Harv Marinizing a car engine usually takes a few angles. Firstly a marine engine company might aquire an engine say from Chev and then convert the engine into a purely marine engine. really all you can tell of the original car engine is the block and internals.
Holden engines in Australia were usually marinzed by Clae marine and nearly always had a hydraulic Forward neutral reverse gearbox. They also made reverse rotation engines.

Most ski boat engines like a marinized grey holden would have been done by back yard mechanics.
First thing they would do if they had the money was buy a kit from one of the small foundries like Tawco, Rolco, or Walkers etc. Their were several back then.

If they didnt have the money they would make their own (Ive seen some interesting conversions over the years).
This usually consisted of a water jacketed manifold, A thrust plate that bolted where the timing cover goes (if you were really cashed up you could buy a dog clutch otherwise you just had direct drive). The thrust plate takes the load of the prop shaft pushing forwards onto the crankshaft. A Bellhousing type end plate to bolt the starter motor on and the external water pump and generator, cast front engine mounts and a modified sump to follow the angle of the engine and get it low into the bilge. this sump usually had copper water pipes running through it to cool the oil.
You also have to drill the back of the head (now the highest point of the engine) to let the water out . If you let the water out at the thermostat housing end the engine will steam lock and over heat.
Also usually a marine engine is built with a lot more clearances in the mains and big ends to allow for the constant loads demanded of the engine. Just imagine putting your car in first gear and leaving it there running at 3 to 5 thousand revs for an hour or so. If the oil doesnt get out quickly it heats up wrecking bearings.

Whenever I tell my engine machinist what clearances I want he is horiffied. Even this week Ive been putting a red motor together for this boat I have restored. All his clearance were way to tight. I had to buy undersized bearings in the end.

Cool.. thanks Dave.

the osprey on page 2 is back in and out of the water catching fish .been twenty years since its been wet so my neighbour tell's me .got a new fish finder in it and a bunch of new safety gear.i wonder how many fish he's caught over the year's .he built it in the mid 60's

Some photos from John Brown's collection.

The photo below shows (from top to bottom):
1. A TAWCO water cooled combined exhaust and inlet manifold to suit a marinised Holden grey motor. Tawco Products has been manufacturing marine products in Australia since 1975, and continues to do so (http://www.tawcoproductsaustralia.com.au/a/Home). Exhaust manifold water cooling is utilised on marine converted grey motors to keep exhaust heat in check – bear in mind that the motor and boat occupants are often very close together, instead of being separated by an insulated firewall as seen in road-going early Holdens. The exhaust manifold discharges both the normal exhaust gas and the cooling water. The inlet manifold appears to be suitable for triple B-model Stromberg carburettors. However, the flanges are mounted very close together, and three carburettors cannot be mounted at the same time due to clash of the fuel bowls/main bodys. Instead, these marine “triple” manifolds are run as either single carburettor (with the other two flanges blanked off, as seen in the photograph), or as twin manifolds (with the centre flange position only blanked off). Note that the flange mounting surfaces are not horizontal, but instead are slanted upwards towards the rear (left of the photograph). This allows the carburettors to sit level even though the motor is mounted on a downwards angle in the boat.
2. A TAWCO Products Brunswick Victoria timing cover to suit a marinised Holden grey motor. The cover is cast with SUIT FIRST BLOCK. These timing covers are somewhat more robust than the normal pressed-steel Holden offering. As well as sealing up the front of the engine, the cover acts as a front engine mount via the two “wings” either side. This is used as an alternative to the front outrigger type mount seen in road-going early Holdens. On the lower left of the cover is the area where the crankshaft protrudes. Where the harmonic balancer normally resides, a dog-type clutch has been fitted. The clutch couples the front of the grey motor to the boats propeller shaft – the motor is fitted into the boat 180º around from the normal road going orientation. The dog clutch is a simple castellated gear set, similar to the dog teeth inside a grey motor crashbox. The easiest way to think of a dog clutch is to take the glass plate out of your microwave oven, and look at the little driving lugs that drive the plate around – these are dog teeth. Dog teeth engage in only one way – they are either in, or out. In the Holden crashbox, we have syncromesh on second and third gear to make sure the dog teeth are spinning at similar speeds before they engage. On a boat’s dog clutch, there is no synchro… marine dog clutches operate like first gear on a grey motor crashbox. The boat engine is either slowed right down, or stopped altogether before the dog clutch is engage/disengaged. Alternatives to a dog clutch are to use direct drive, or to use a soft clutch (similar to the normal grey motor clutch). Soft clutches can be aftermarket, or cut down versions of the grey motor gearbox. The separate photo below shows a blue engine with a cut-down soft clutch (not Johns).
3. A TAWCO bellhousing to suit a marinised Holden grey motor. This cover replaces the standard grey motor crashbox bellhousing. The flywheel is retained on the back of the crank, with the starter motor nose mounting in the casting to the upper left. Note that the cover acts as a rear engine mount via the two “wings” either side. This is used as an alternative to the side type mounts seen in road-going early Holdens.



The photo below shows (from top to bottom):
1. A Stan Brown marine transfer case. Stan Brown may well be the S.J. Brown who made inlet manifold near Newcastle, NSW.
2. A variety of parts to suit a marinised Holden grey motor. From top to bottom are a Glasson inlet manifold to suit B-model Stromberg carburettors, a Glasson exhaust manifold, a Lundberg and Son timing cover and a TAWCO combined inlet/exhaust manifold to suit B-model Stromberg carburettors.
3. A variety of parts TAWCO to suit a marinised Holden grey motor. Clockwise from top left are a TAWCO bellhousing, an unknown TAWCO cover plate (see below for a closer photo), a TAWCO Products Bwick Vic upper thermostat blanking plate, a TAWCO clutch rod support, an accelerator pedal, the TAWCO bellhousing/adaptor, and a TAWCO timing cover. At the bottom of the photo is the TAWCO combine inlet and exhaust manifold to suit B-model Stromberg carburettors.


The photo below shows (from top to bottom):
1. A Lundberg and Son timing cover to suit a marinised Holden grey motor. I suspect that this is the same company which later became Lundberg Propellors, which is till operating in Berry, NSW (http://www.lundbergpropellers.com.au/index.html). Lundberg Propellers have been making inboard boat propellers and related components for over 85 years after being founded in Newtown, Sydney, in 1920.
2. A TAWCO bellhousing to suit a marinised Holden grey motor.
3. Three TAWCO cover plates to suit a marinised Holden grey motor. At the bottom left is a TAWCO Products Bwick Vic upper thermostat blanking plate to suit the Holden grey motor. These blanking plates replace the upper thermostat cover, preventing water flowing out of the cylinder head. The water flow is instead re-routed, and often exists the engine by new tappings drilled into the cylinder head. As boat engines are often installed on an angle, care needs to be taken that the highest point of the newly-oriented cylinder head is tapped. This ensures that any air (and steam) that is generated in the cylinder head can be vented. Failure to vent the air (or steam) can lead to hot spots and engine failure. The cooling water leaving the engine ends up cooling the exhaust manifold before flowing out with the exhaust gases. On the upper left is a plate cast with TAWCO SUIT HOLDEN, which I am unsure of the use (Dave?). On the upper right is a TAWCO clutch rod support, presumably used to support the drive rod for either a dog-clutch or the standard grey motor clutch.


The photo below shows (from top to bottom):
1. An S.J. Brown P/L (Sydney) timing cover to suit a marinised Holden grey motor.
2. Glasson inlet manifold to suit B-model Stromberg carburettors and an exhaust manifold. I can find very little on the Glasson history (Dave, any ideas?), though have seen a Glasson accelerator pedal on sale on eBay lately. Note that the inlet manifold is blanked in the two outer positions, ready for the single carburettor orientation.
3. A TAWCO combined inlet and exhaust manifolds. Note that the inlet manifold is blanked in the centre position, ready for the twin carburettor orientation.


Cheers,
Harv

The post below shows some more of the marinised grey motor I pictured above. It was on sale as a complete unit on eBay a few months ago, but didn’t sell… looks like the seller is now parting it out.

The photo below shows how the sump has been modified to have a flat bottom, with cooling pipes inside. The cooling water inlet (or outlet) can be seen connected to a hose at the bottom right of the sump.

The sump profile can be better seen in this photo. Note the four solid engine mount wings, two each at the front and rear of the block. This engine has a TAWCO combined inlet/exhaust manifold, set up in single BXUV-1 Stromberg mode. The carburettor is on a slant as the engine has been bolted horizontally to the engine cradle – normally the engine would slant down to the stern of the boat, and the carburettor would sit flat. Note the cooling line tapped into the exhaust manifold.


The photo below shows a closeup of the TAWCO combined inlet and exhaust manifold. I suspect that the fitting on the right of the manifold is to allow the cooling water to pass out of the exhaust manifold and be dumped to sea (rather than bled into the exhaust flow).


The front end of the block shows where the thermostat housing has been removed, and a flat plate added. Water leaves the cylinder head and flows to the exhaust manifold as seen in the above photograph. Water inlet to the block enters through a similar hose, mounted to the plate on the front of the block. A replacement timing cover is fitted, which has the front engine mount wings.


The soft clutch set-up is evident in the photo below. The standard grey motor crashbox has been removed, and a red motor belhousing fitted (remember that all Holden inline six-cylinder engines (grey, red, blue and black) have the same bolt pattern on the rear of the block, and corresponding identical transmission bellhousing bolt pattern). This fits a red motor clutch to the grey motor. A clutch gear can be seen protruding from the bellhousing, mated to the universal joint. The propeller shaft continues on through what appears to be a transom mount. The clutch is operated through the original throwout fork via the linkages and white pedal in the foreground.


The photo below shows the bellhousing, along with the rear engine plate , which has the rear engine mount wings.

The photo below shows the propeller shaft line-up.


The photos below show the remote JABSCO water pump, pulley driven from the front of the engine. JABSCO is an international manufacturer of products for the leisure marine market including water system, engine cooling pumps, searchlights and marine waste systems. Jabsco also sells industrial pumps. Note the grease cup fitted to the pump spindle, similar to the one used on early Holden distributor shafts.




Cheers,
Harv

Awesome Harv, love your work

Yeah, I know it’s not grey… but I stumbled across this red motor marine conversion in my trawling for grey motor marine bits:



It’s a Rolco water cooled combined inlet and exhaust manifold. Kincaid Marine Rolco still manufacture and sell Rolco Marine conversions and supply underwater skiboat hardware, complete engine packages (new and remanufactured), gauges, steering systems, ski/wakeboard poles and boom bars. http://www.kmrolco.com/Kincaid_Marine_Rolco.html. Rolco still do the conversions for the Holden 5L V8, 3.3L V6 and the red motor:
http://www.kmrolco.com/Price_List_files ... an2013.pdf
For the red motor, a bellhousing like the ones shown above runs to around $500, the thermostat covers around $70, dog clutches around $1100, exhaust manifolds around $950, and the timing case coves around $400.

Bearing in mind the similarities in the back of the block, I wouldn't mind betting that brand new red motor bellhousing stuff will bolt straight onto a grey.

Cheers,
Harv

These are a whole other world..... Jeff Thommo who used to moderate on here is in to these now. He is butchering them with 308s tho. (lol Jeff).

Guy I knew at Agery had one he built which ran a Dodge Q motor, side valve six still used in a lot of old forklifts on gas. It was black and called Satan. They used to run around on Lake Agery which is really just a salt pan now.


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