New Carver Owner

C

coastie856

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exMember
Joined
Feb 13, 2012
RO Number
32870
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8
Hi, I am the owner of a new to me 1985 Carver 3227 with the 5.7L gas engines with about 530 hours on the engines. The boat came out of the Great Lakes and was in fresh water up until now, (moving it to Boston). The survey came out great with a few minor issues consistent with it's age. The port and starboard front sliding windows have a slight leak. Should these be reseated? I really love this site, I have read all of the posts (all 22 pages) and have already got some good info.
 
Good luck with your new boat. It's identical to mine and I'm sure that you will love it. I'm not sure if "reseated" is the right word but you probably have to replace that fuzzy seal stuff around the windows.
Jim
 
Thanks Jim, I've read a lot of yor posts, good info. I guess I should have said resealed rather then reseated. Looking forward to the sping getting here. Went to the boat show this weekend looking for ideas for interior to make the boat our own. Day after I had the boat srveyed they announced gas going up to 4.50. Oh well didn't buy it for the economical engines!
 
Because of the price of gas, I would suggest a good tune up and some electronic ignition conversion kits. I've never taken the time to figure out my exact fuel consumption but it's not as bad as you might think.
Jim
 
welcome to the site...the fussy stuff can be found here, It's on my list to..When you do your spring clean up clean the track out beach and soap it ups alot due the same to the portlights drains.
 
Welcome and congrats on your 3227 Convertible. Great boat and you will get lots of enjoyment from her!
 
Congrats, great boat that never goes out of style. Your window felts might just need a little cleaning to allow window to fully seat against the frame.
Although I have twin 454's our boats have similar hours on them and I would suggest you just use the boat for a while before making changes. When we first got our boat, I was going to convert over to electronic ignition but the boat runs great and my "if it aint broke, don't fix it" attitude prevailed so we are still running all original.
However, having said this, if you put a lot of hours on your boat the upgrade to electronic ignition makes a lot of sense. One other low cost engine upgrade I would also recomend if you do decide to upgrade would be roller rockers, they really make the engines noticeably more responsive.
 
Coastie,
I have the the same boat, motors, and hours. My boat ran fine before I did the electronic ignition conversion but I did it because the points were such a bitch to get to. It starts easier, runs smoother, uses less gas, and picked up about four mph on the top side. I did the Pertronix Ignitor II Electronic Ignition Conversion Kit for about $100 per side and couldn't be happier. Just my opinion, but they are a great investment.
Jim
 
Thanks for the warm welcome all, I've been doing a lot of web surfing and this is the best site I have found by far. I appreciate any and all advice. As you can tell by the moniker I spent 25 years in the CG but always had mechanics doing the wrench turning, I was a driver on the bridge. First trip on the boat will be a 200 mile trip to get it from lower CT where I bought it up to Boston with the Admiral. Should be fun!
 
Yes, welcome to the site, I have found a wealth of information here and tried to share my experiences as well.

That being said, rb2@gr5trtribble, what are roller rockers? I have not heard that term before.
 
Jim - any idea how much better gas consumption is than before? If not exact numbers, just a guesstimate. I have carbed 350 crusaders from 1996 in mine. How difficult is the switch to electronic? I can turn a wrench and have changed water pumps, etc before, but am not very knowledgable about carbs, points,etc.
 
quote:
Originally posted by imspacemancraig

Yes, welcome to the site, I have found a wealth of information here and tried to share my experiences as well.

That being said, rb2rb2@gr5tgr5trtribble, what are roller rockers? I have not heard that term before.

Click to expand...


Roller rockers are pushrod rocker arms that work from needle bearings and are much more eficient than the old "stamped" steel type rocker.
All your newer "roller cam" engines incorporate them.
Having "messed" with performance engines/street rods over the years I've found that replacing the stock stamped steel rockers with rollers in an otherwise relative stock engine gives noticeable improvement in how quickly and smoothly the engine responds.
For a stock sbc I usauly went with the 1.6 ratio vs the 1.5.
heres a link showing them.
http://www.jegs.com/p/Comp-Cams/Comp-Cams-High-Energy-Aluminum-Roller-Rocker-Arms/1348314/10002/-1
 
quote:
Originally posted by btoran

Jim - any idea how much better gas consumption is than before? If not exact numbers, just a guesstimate. I have carbed 350 crusaders from 1996 in mine. How difficult is the switch to electronic? I can turn a wrench and have changed water pumps, etc before, but am not very knowledgable about carbs, points,etc.

Click to expand...


I switched to them the past spring as well. I had my mechanic do it due to a string of issues I was trying to figure out that I won't go into. I don't have any tangible numbers for gas consumption, but the engines ran a lot smoother, was a lot easier to get them started when cold and they idled (after some fine tuning) a lot nicer too. Then, when you punch her to get on plane, they were much more responsive and it felt like she wanted to get and "play" a lot quicker. Add into the mix I had to replace one of the distributors, I had to relearn the throttles. She began running at WOT where the manual said it should for the first time ever and the location of the throttle was now different for my normal running RPM's. Meaning, I didn't have to pull up as far. I could really feel a power difference with the electronic ignitions.
 
quote:
Originally posted by rtribble

quote:
Originally posted by imspacemancraig

Yes, welcome to the site, I have found a wealth of information here and tried to share my experiences as well.

That being said, rb2rb2rb2@gr5tgr5tgr5trtribble, what are roller rockers? I have not heard that term before.

Click to expand...


Roller rockers are pushrod rocker arms that work from needle bearings and are much more eficient than the old "stamped" steel type rocker.
All your newer "roller cam" engines incorporate them.
Having "messed" with performance engines/street rods over the years I've found that replacing the stock stamped steel rockers with rollers in an otherwise relative stock engine gives noticeable improvement in how quickly and smoothly the engine responds.
For a stock sbc I usauly went with the 1.6 ratio vs the 1.5.
heres a link showing them.
http://www.jegs.com/p/Comp-Cams/Comp-Cams-High-Energy-Aluminum-Roller-Rocker-Arms/1348314/10002/-1

Click to expand...


Thanks for this! I will book mark and ask my mechanic about this. This looks to be something a bit over my head to do, but looks fairly cheap. Can't tell, are these sold in pairs, so I would need 2 sets for twin engines? Or do I need 4 of these? Also, better fuel economy or just more power/performance?
 
One set per engine. Pretty easy bolt on install, see what your mechanic thinks.
 
quote:
Originally posted by rtribble

One set per engine. Pretty easy bolt on install, see what your mechanic thinks.

Click to expand...


Is it something easy to do? Like take the old and bolt on the new or is there some tuning that needs to be done after? If it is a simple off/on like that, then something I could handle. I would be fearful of messing something more up. although will to watch and learn.
 
I never took the time to measure fuel consumption but like in the post above, the performance increase is huge. When you hit the throttles, both motors scream with no hesitation.
The kits are easy to install. Remove the distributor cap and rotor. The points and condensor sit on a round plate held in by two screws. Remove that plate and inspect for any debris inside the distributor. Install the new plate with electronic ignition parts that come with the kit. There is a magnetic collar that goes over the shaft befor the rotor. I remember having to make a short wire with conectors as per the directions. It took me about one hour per side (4 beers) and both motors fired up the first time and ran 100%. Most importantly, after motors both start, throw the old points into the water.
Best investment that I ever made on the boat!
Jim
 
quote:
Originally posted by imspacemancraig

quote:
Originally posted by rtribble

One set per engine. Pretty easy bolt on install, see what your mechanic thinks.

Click to expand...


Is it something easy to do? Like take the old and bolt on the new or is there some tuning that needs to be done after? If it is a simple off/on like that, then something I could handle. I would be fearful of messing something more up. although will to watch and learn.

Click to expand...


For someone who is familiar with the procedure it's very simple, but if your not familiar it can look a little intimidateing at first.
The install is very simple, just remove the old by removing one nut and install the roller rokers with supplied nuts(these nuts will have an allen wrench "lock" nut you will tighten after the adjustments are made.
After "loosly installing the new rockers you will need to make final adjustments to them which basicly intails tighting them until you start to feel a little resistance turning the pushrod with two fingers and then tightening down 1/8 to 1/4 turn more and then setting the "lock" nut on the lifter.
You do this in sequence and I have included a link to show this process.

http://www.centuryperformance.com/adjusting-valve-lash-spg-149.html
 
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