'65 Pearson 28 - Chrysler 318's Need Help

I

imspacemancraig

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31301
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Hey all,

A friend is buying a fixer-upper that is in over all really decent shape, just needs a bunch of TLC to get it looking pretty again. It's a 1965 Pearson 28 foot Express Cruiser. It has twin Chrysler 318's (225 hp) that were not original to the boat. In fact he is told that they were put in about 10 years ago and only have 271 hours on them. We do not know what year the engines are either. Unfortunately they haven't been used much over the last 6 years and we can't find any manuals or anything. Fortunately, we have in writing from the seller that he is warrantying the engines for this full upcoming season, plus my friend is a mechanic by profession, so he knows what he is getting into.

That all being said, wondering if anyone out there has some manuals for either the boat or these engines or knows a little about them. We are also wondering what the right prop size should be for these engines. I think they might be under propped and hold overs from the original engines, but not sure. They are 14 x 10's on there. The little info we can find, I think the WOT is 4000 so the current plan once things warm up is to get it out and sea-trial it to see what it does. But hoping to find some more info in the meantime.

Thanks!
 
I had a 1978 30' Trojan with 318's 225 hp.I have a spare set of props in a box.They have been serviced,cupped,&put away. They look like new.If you have an interest in them, get back to me.
 
Not sure on the gear reduction. Would it say on the tranny? I personally have not looked at them yet.

As for the spare props set, what size are the ones you have?
 
If the engines are original style, they could be the 318A, or if replaced with several years later, they would probably be 318LA engines meaning Light A.
Should be a brass plate at upper rear of the engine, numbers beginning "318LA" and there should be a date cast into the block above the core plugs.
 
quote:
Originally posted by kole

I had a 1978 30' Trojan with 318's 225 hp.I have a spare set of props in a box.They have been serviced,cupped,&put away. They look like new.If you have an interest in them, get back to me.

Click to expand...


Since I can't pm you, what size props?
Thanks.
 
The props are Nibral 14x11,with I believe a 1 inch bore.If you're interested I'll check the bore size.

Kole
 
I have to add my thanks to Sandy for that Chrysler "Operating Manual." What a walk down memory lane for me and I suspect some others here who have been boating for a long time. I owned a couple of those small block (318) engines perhaps 40 years ago.

Even if you don't care about old Chrysler engines, check out the specs on the "Golden Lion Special." Good Lord! 426 cubic inches at 11:1 compression that needed 100+ octane fuel. Two four barrel carbs and the engine cranked out 415 hp with a very respectable torque curve. Back then, it probably spewed out lots of smog but we didn't know any better.

Today my boat is powered with two Chrysler 360 ci engines circa 1980. They are reliable after more than 30m years but aren't know for their speed. I have Chrysler's original operating manuals for them but they are not nearly as complete as the one you posted.

Bill
 
I only found the link in a quick search at the bottom of this page , since I had added it to a reply to a previous B/Ed thread a good while ago. Any and all credit for the manual availbility is due to Keith Bagley who apparently is the owner/operator of that site. There are a few other old engine manuals available in his Reference section too. Very nice he took the trouble to upload all that as a big help to owners of "experienced" engines.

I too did enjoy the great style of the old Chrysler manual.
 
Those will come in handy and I have already passed along to my friend. I really need to sit down and scan in my Carver and Crusader manuals some day soon. Just to have them electronically would be nice.
 
Crusader does provide Owner's and Parts Manuals for free on their website, but unfortunately as new ones are added, much older-year ones are gradually deleted from the list of available manual files. So for any Crusader owners whose engines are still presently covered and would like to have those manuals on computer file, it would be wise to get that saved before they get replaced. So many have been "lost" already.

http://www.crusaderengines.com/Owners Info/manuals.html
 
Ya, mine are past the old. 1986, thanks though. I have the original paper versions, I just need to scan them.
 
It might be a little bit of a long shot there even were owner manuals , but you might check with Everett Pearson at TPI, or possibly even Marathon Boat Group (Grumman) since it appears Grumman may have owned Pearson in the relatively little time they built any powerboats. You never know whatjust might happen to be entombed in someone's dusty archives. But getting past the people who never even heard of your model may be good exercise.

Here's an interesting Pearson article you may already have read:
http://www.goodoldboat.com/reader_services/articles/PearsonHistory.php

http://www.zoominfo.com/#!search/profile/person?personId=2211348&targetid=profile

http://www.marathonboat.com/grummanboats.asp
 
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