Grant MacLaren's
1981 18' Century Resorter


Engine

The engine in Grant's 1981 Century is a 350 cubic inch (5.7 L) "small block" Chevrolet V-8,
converted to electronic ignition.

CLICK HERE FOR MANUAL

CLICK HERE FOR TIMING SHEET
"My guess is the 'special procedure' is disconnect the vacuum advance & set base idle, before adjusting ..." Mark S.

CLICK HERE FOR IGNITION ADVANCE CURVE
provided by Bud Eiler


     

It's a 350 cu. in. "small-block" Chevrolet, with marine conversion by Mercury. I'll guess the "R" stands for "Right-hand" rotation.

These two photos are views of the engine from the front, taken with the front seat removed, and the fuel filter and fuel pump removed.

     
Another image -- click here.

Photo of the belt-driven "sea-water" pump, forward, on starboard side (fuel pump and fuel filter removed.) The dipstick is on the port side:

     


Drain plugs and petcocks -- port side
           

Above photos are of PORT side of engine.

  • The first photo shows the (unusual?) petcock in the Osco exhaust manifold.      
  • The second photo shows the exhaust manifold elbow with a brass? (or bronze?) "pipe plug." I have been advised to use teflon tape on these plug thread, to extend the life of the threads and to make removal easier.      
  • The 3rd photo is the block drain petcock. That black tube on the right is the dipstick tube. It's 0.4" I.D. -- will accept 3/8" tube for oil extraction.


Drain plugs and petcocks -- starboard side

     

     

Above photos are of STARBOARD side of engine.

  • The top left photo shows the Osco exhaust manifold and the engines water-cooled oil cooler below. The engine's (white) fuel filter is on far right. The (original) fuel pump's sight glass has been removed.
  • The second photo shows the PORT side of the STARBOARD exhaust manifold "elbow" with its drain plug.
  • The bottom left-hand shows Osco manifold with its (unusual?) drain petcock. The water-cooled transmission oil cooler with its drain petcock is below. Looks as if someone has tried removing the large plug from the elbow casting.
  • The bottom right-hand photo shows the water-cooled transmission oil cooler with its drain petcock.

CLICK FOR OSCO "SMALL BLOCK" CATALOG PAGE

Ignition
The ignition system is not the original.
Find more HERE.


Fuel Pump (and fuel filter)
The discussion of this topic has grown, so a page has been added
HERE.


Carburetor (by Edelbrock/Weber)
There is a separate page on the carburetor
HERE.


Oil filter

Click to read the numbers of oil filters to be used.


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Another pretty good web page by Grant MacLaren