excel/barefoot engine rebuild rotation

18436572 Has been normal rotation for Chevy's since 1955. their first v-8

What is the immediate need to pull the entire drivetrain?

Really certain the lower end is in need of rebuild? Current Hrs?

Else just rework the top end, block in-place. <edit> (Oh, might be hard to get the cam out)

The story...
Bought boat May 2014 from an owners best friend (sad story owner died). Told me that the impeller was changed summer of 13. I was planning on changing it anyways. On its madian voyage for me, my second pass I did a tantrum, landed with my knee locked, popped the femur out of the hip socket. Called wife on the way to hospital and she asked "were still going on our houseboat trip in 3 weeks, right?". So I didn't get around to changing the impeller. On the trip, when my wife was driving the impeller disintegrated. Motor got HOT. Changed impeller, at times still getting hot. Pieces floating through motor and getting jammed in the small bypass hose going from intake manifold to circulation pump. (took awhile to figure out)
Ran boat rest of summer, but not as much as I wanted to.
May 2015 head gasket blew between cylinder 4 & 6. Took off both heads and the surfaced them. Machinist said that the other head was more warped then the head that had the blown gasket. Got it back together 2 days before our trip. Ran rest of summer no issues, I was babying it. Second to last trip of the year I went full throttle (4200-4300rpm) for a few minutes 49MPH Acme #380 prop 13.5x17 VR1 1/8. Then some noise out of the engine, maybe valves floating? Took back to the lake and it did run like normal.
I will confirm Rotation of engine today.
Oil pressure is lower than when I bought the boat.
After the head were surfaced and tanked, I was blowing out the water passages with an air compressor and still was getting pieces of impeller. Who knows whats still floating in my engine.
About 900 hours.
When checking for blown head gasket the compression were all between 110 and 115.
I have another houseboat trip, I will have the only boat.
Should I trust this engine?

TRBenj wrote: v-drive excels.

I certainly agree with keeping the prop rotation original. There are plenty of RH wheels that are available for that hull/engine combo.

dave12gauge wrote: Checked engine multiple times. It's reverse rotation despite the engine tag saying differently.

Your engine tag says reverse rotation

dave12gauge wrote: Model PRK-WR-R10T

I checked my engine either last year or the year before and checked the tag on one of the post here. I knew it was reverse rotation. One of the comments above through me for a loop. It is interesting that the model number says its reverse but on the same same tag it says the firing order is 1846572 which is standard.

KENO wrote: Sound like a screwed up tag to me.

Or as Tim mentioned, the firing order is not off the tag?

TRBenj wrote:    You cannot take the firing order off the the intake manifold casting, that does not mean anything. .

dave12gauge wrote: I checked my engine either last year or the year before and checked the tag on one of the post here. I knew it was reverse rotation. One of the comments above through me for a loop. It is interesting that the model number says its reverse but on the same same tag it says the firing order is 1846572 which is standard.

Pete
Read all the words in this quote from Dave especially the part about "on the same tag"

maybe it's a bi-curious rotation. most of the time it spins right, but after a few tequilas it can be talked into going left

That Princess Bride meme almost made me spit out my drink. I even read it in Enigo's accent. Lol.

Dave- sent a pm

bi-curious rotation. I am on the left coast and we have plenty of screws loose, mostly in people's heads. Commufornia.
This engine also has a "cunuter" valve and a muffler bearing. Yup, both.

Plan is to pull motor tomorrow. Noise I heard at high RPM is not sitting well with my confidence factor. Plus just think of all the money I'm going to save not having to top off with oil every other pass.

Can't add picture of engine tag but its defiantly misprinted.

Looking around on the site, it did look like the ford engine in this boat spun both standard and reverse rotation. Besides rebuilding the starter, what are the specific negatives for a vee drive boat to have a standard rotation engine and I'll keep the RH prop? Probably going to reseal and check transmission (velvet drive 72C) for $500. Reason for asking is that the cam may be custom ground and will take a bit longer for me to get the engine back, plus I haven't got a cost yet. My only thinking is that the engine and prop will be turing in the same direction causing the torque to go to starboard and slightly tilt the boat. This is just a family boat and me and my 8 year old are far from being a professional wakeboarder.

dave12gauge wrote:    what are the specific negatives for a vee drive boat to have a standard rotation engine and I'll keep the RH prop?

This is not possible.

The transmission can be indexed to spin either way but it can NOT reverse the rotation of the engine (velvets cannot be spun full power in reverse). Engine and transmission rotation must match.

LH prop would be the biggest downside of a LH engine. It could be done but it's not just a starter (and you cannot simply "rebuild" it). Cam and distributor change too.

A 1:1 V drive reverses the rotation, but that is off set by the bacerds installation of the engine which also reverses the rotation. Whatever the output is at the transmission,( RH or LH) should be the same for the prop when goes through the 1:1 v drive. Looking at the trans from the back of it as compared to looking at the prop from the rear.