Inliners International Forums General Discussion Engines Mercruiser 3.0

Has anyone ever used the Mercruiser/GM 3.0 on anything? I've seen the midget racers running the heads on a 2.5, but nothing ever in a car or truck. I had one in a boat once, it would run 4 grand all day long and never run out gas. I would think it would be great hot rod upgrade on anything with an old 4 cylinder. I even would think it would be a awesome upgrade in an old Jeep or even an S10 daily driver.

There were several posts about 6 months back with interest regarding some differences between the 2.5 and 3.0 engines and some guys were prepping some for street use. Maybe they will pop back up soon.

Try this. "GM 4 cylinders 151 153 181" If that doesn't find something posted in a search click on my bb name and search my posts. You'll find a bunch about these engines. There is a ton of interchange in this engine group. The 181 /3.0 is the largest and in it's Mercrusier form puts out 140 hp. A lot of Vs don't do that!

If I'm not mistaken, Mercruiser was using these engines up until a few years ago. Their should still be a ton of them around.

Still available
General Motors

Home > Products > General Motors >
Vortec 3.0 Liter Powertrain Engine
Designed for propane, and natural gas fuel.
Intake/exhaust manifolds & High Energy Ignition (HEI) are all standard.
Pistons have high silicon content for improved durability and noise reduction.
Integral harmonic balancer/crankshaft pulley for easier accessory drive dress.
Nodular iron crankshaft for increased strength and durability.
Sintered powder metal exhaust valve seat inserts for enhanced durability.
World-class engine sealing system for superior leak protection.
State-of-the-art coolant pump seal uses a combination of advanced materials to provide superb sealing action under extreme conditions. ,

I was just on the Gm powertrain website. It seems as though they did some updates to the engine in 91 and again in 2004. The 04 on up has 2.00 intake valves and 1.6 exhaust. Plus they have a 10:1 CR option now. It's cool that they've been developing this engine platform for almost 50 years now.

I have a 181 with the the desired big valve head but I havent got to get to it yet.

I'm getting ready to pull the 350 sbc/th350 out of my '36 Chevy pickup and replace it with a Mercruiser 120 (153 c.i., 2.5l) and a T5 manual trans. from an S-10.
The first order of business was the distributor. The boat version has no advance. They are typically idled or pegged and the rpm's build a bit slowly to their 4,000 rpm max.
The cheap fix is to get a rebuilt unit from an old Chevy ll with a vacuum advance. I wanted HEI for the low maintenance and gas mileage so Langdon's sold me one of the 2 models they produce for this engine.
The standard carburetion may work for you, I haven't tried it yet. I have a Weber 32/36 as is highly reccomended and an adaptor.
I'd prefer an aftermarket manifold, but good luck finding one! Same for headers.
As for flywheel, clutch and transmission, (or flexplate and automatic) it will fit a sbc or 230 inline 6 it will fit the Mercruiser. Sinc

Since I am using a T5 from an S-10 that was equipped with a 60 degree 2.8l V6 I had to find an adaptor to make up for the longer input shaft. I have ordered one from Vintage Metalworks in Atwater, Ohio.
I will be using it with a bellhousing from a '79 V8 Monza as I am more comfortable installing a cable-operated clutch than fabricating linkage or messing with hydraulics.
Another way to go without the adaptor is to use a bellhousing from an Astro van that was equipped with a 4.3 V6 and a T5. Be forewarned that these are rare...and expensive.

Do you have pictures of your '36? This sounds like a fun project. The 153 sounds a bit under powered yet 120 HP is way more than it came with. with the T5 it should be a great driver. Is it full fendered?

I am a technophobe and have no idea how to post pictures.
My pickup is a ratrod with no fenders or hood.
I will try and post a link if I can.
Can anyone tell me how to take a pic from the internet and send it to this forum?
I am not worried about power so much anymore. I got a lifetime worth of tickets back in the 70's! I just want a rod that starts easy, runs smoothly and always gets me where I want to go.
I did pick up a recently rebuilt head from a 140 that was too good a deal to pass up. It uses different manifolds than the 120 and I wanted to be ready if any good deals came along for stuff to fit either head.
There are some guys I've come across online who are more than happy with the performance they get out of the 181c.i. Mercruiser 140's they have put in model A and similar sized rods.

mallory makes nice distributors for this engine.

Here goes! Going to try to post links to 2 pics of my truck.
If they come out right one will be my granddaughter (who thinks the truck is immediate family) and I getting blindsided with the "Best 30's" award at Junction City, Or. 2007 "Function 4 Junction". Rat or unfinished would've made us happy. My apologies to all the pissed off guys who brought immaculate '32 Fords and such.

The other will be a pic taken in my backyard of the truck next to my sons '48 Chevy coupe.

Http://m.facebook.com/home.php?refsrc=http%3A%2Fwww.google.com%2Furl&refid=9&_rdr


Http://function4junction.com/album/2007/slides/edit8.html

Okay, the facebook one just took me to my page. If you end up there you can find a couple of my truck pics in my photos.

The first one took me to my wife's Facebook page. I did see the second one. Nice truck. I think the 4 cylinder will work for you. I'm a straight axle fan. Here is one I saw at Bonneville in 2008.

Beautiful truck! I will aim for a full 3 piece hood after the emgine swap.
I have a '37- '41 Ford axle and wishbone out back that I hope to someday have leading the way on my truck. Long term plan! For now it is a safe, decent handling and riding rig because it is on an early 80's Toyota pickup chassis.
Maisto makes a 1/64th scale '36 Chevy pickup almost identical to mine. I bought several and repainted them gray. Grandkids, nephews and more have one in their room and I display one at shows.

I'm building a '26 Chevy roadster, just a pile of parts right now. It will use the Chevy leaf springs up front like a lot of the early dry lakes cars. It will also run a modified 153 Chevy four.

Very cool! Are you going to flip the frame for lowness as so many old dirt trackracers did?
Can you make your own intake and headers? I am not so skilled, but these engines look great with a couple of weber side-drafts and 4 pipes sticking straight out a foot and a half or so.
Lots of folks like to say that there are plenty of aftermarket speed parts available because of the popular racing class that used them. Not so in my experience.

I've got 2 miles of rough road between home and the world. Lowness is not my thing. I converted a 3X1 Offenhauser manifold for a six into a 2X1 for a four. Header coming soon.

Great job on the manifold! Looking forward to seeing the headers. Decided on the style yet?

If I build them they will be 4 into 1. I have another idea I haven't been able to try yet.