What may look bad, may actually turn out to be a perfectly running motor. My motors have been gone over, new impellers, new fuel pumps, rebuilt distributors, Pertronix ignition, rebuilt carbs, new filters, synthetic oil, a very needed valve adjustment, and of course a complete paint job, and they're now eager to run and they run very well, indeed.
Here's a rather old photo of that same engine, after someone who cared got a chance to work on it a while.
I might add, that the previous owner had lost interest in the boat over a period of years, and it showed. Not much TLC had been given anytime recently. The one motor ran and actually sounded okay, but it was running on 7 cylinders. I didn't know at the time, but one cylinder had the valves so poorly set, there was no compression in that cylinder at all. After running the boat and experiencing some backfire problems, I did a compression test and to my amazement, one cylinder registered zero. Checking the valve adjustment showed why! One valve was so poorly set, it was being held open.
After tending to the sins of the previous owner, adding the proper plugs, new caps, filters, cleaned up the carbs internally, valve adjustment, and good oil, these big dogs sure seemed a LOT happier. They continue to run as though they will outlast me !!
So far they've outlasted several other owners!!
The initial fear of a motor rebuild for the new boat owner takes a while to subside. I sure had it, but now after 12 years of running time, these darn things show no signs of weakness at all. It is quite amazing how they will respond with care. Some of the motors we'll likely encounter out there on the used boat market were not well cared for, the owners used cheap oil, ran them hot, didn't tend to issues, and those motors may not have fared as well due to the poor maintenance and operating conditions. I use the example of Todd Heinrich's 38 Express, which had something like 2700 well cared-for hours, and he took his family on a 700-mile cruise to the UP and back from South Haven. That's an indication of how the 427 will perform over the long haul if well cared for. The boat brought top dollar at a recent sale, and I suspect the engines will continue to run well for the new owner.
Paul