3.4 liter EFI Offshore

[htower]

Later tonight i will shed some light on the 75H and take a few pictures.

[htower]

When i was talking with Frank who had all these parts and the motors i purchased, he mentioned that the 3.4 EFI was a display motor at Mercury- the pistons and rods were removed , so it would not run or be sold in running order. So it just so happen that this came along - a brand new NOS powerhead.

[htower]

I.m not going to get to deep into the story of my 75H. But years ago-maybe 5 - i read on the computer that someone was considering selling a 75H. i emailed the guy, and in time we had chatted on the phone for a bit. He stated he had a 75H with the KA6A carbs and flywheel, but that the block was not origional. He wasn't sure at this time if he really wanted to part with it or not and the price was not quite clear.. I didn't get to excited and in time it was kind of forgotten about.
At least a year and a half had gone buy and at one of the local meets i was telling a friend about the motor that i let get away. During all this time i had moved.my comouter was not even hooked up for at least a year or so, when one day i plugged it in and fired it up. Going through some emails, there was one marked 75H - so i click on it and here after all this time- he states i'm ready to sell the motor. I drive down pick up all the boxes and head on home..
This is where it gets a bit better. Six monthe before this happened i stopped over a friends shop and here on the bench he had a factory ported and padded 75H block. He was going to build a RAT motor with it.. So needless to say as soon as i got back with the 75H i called up my old friend and and asked if he would sell me his block to make my motor as correct as i possibly could. A day later a price was set and he let me take it on home..
In time i will be restored and put out with my collection. Heres some pics and some other motors i have restored.

[htower]

A couple more.

[Dave S]

NICE BUNCH OF JUNK......

[htower]

Thanks DaveS.
This is what happens when you finally figure it out and say its time to start taking care of myself.

[PARKER RABE]

jesus , was all that stuff in that container?

[htower]

Parker. I wish i found all this in one shot, but if i did i wouldn't of had the money to do it. No it has taken a few years to find and put this together.
Once you start, you seem to become obsessed with finding more.

This past weekend i ran the yellow boat with the chrysler stacker . In under 10 minutes the park rangers threw me off the lake. Can't even have a little bit of fun.

[T2x]

I ran two T-4 versions (Fuel injected approximately 375-400 hp) of that engine in Offshore in 1981 on one of our factory Shadow Cats. At that time there were only 3 Offshore FULL RACE units in existence (mine and a spare). The following year the same motors were given to Mike Drewry and he ran all three on his 36' Maelstrom (actually Bill Sirois and Al Copeland did). This boat set an Open class record and later was powered by three OMC factory racing (not those consumer blobs) V-8's.The motors of course had aluminum flywheels and special "football" lower units (modified and cut down Mercruiser SSM's).

The engine you have looks like one of the "consumer" versions offered later. That "louvered" version with HD mounts yielded little more than the stock 300 hp "Harry Homeowner" versions that were a not very successful Mercury offering in the 80's. Later on Cosworth got involved with some of them and that upped the anty, but I doubt that any of the later versions exceeded the T-4's that we ran in performance or power.

T2x

[Old fiberglass]

I.m not going to get to deep into the story of my 75H. But years ago-maybe 5 - i read on the computer that someone was considering selling a 75H. i emailed the guy, and in time we had chatted on the phone for a bit. He stated he had a 75H with the KA6A carbs and flywheel, but that the block was not origional. He wasn't sure at this time if he really wanted to part with it or not and the price was not quite clear.. I didn't get to excited and in time it was kind of forgotten about.
At least a year and a half had gone buy and at one of the local meets i was telling a friend about the motor that i let get away. During all this time i had moved.my comouter was not even hooked up for at least a year or so, when one day i plugged it in and fired it up. Going through some emails, there was one marked 75H - so i click on it and here after all this time- he states i'm ready to sell the motor. I drive down pick up all the boxes and head on home..
This is where it gets a bit better. Six monthe before this happened i stopped over a friends shop and here on the bench he had a factory ported and padded 75H block. He was going to build a RAT motor with it.. So needless to say as soon as i got back with the 75H i called up my old friend and and asked if he would sell me his block to make my motor as correct as i possibly could. A day later a price was set and he let me take it on home..
In time i will be restored and put out with my collection. Heres some pics and some other motors i have restored.

Thanks for sharing your story....love stuff like that.

[Dd24skater]

I used to work on a pair of those on the back of a 28 Apache. Neat boat!

[PARKER RABE]

i have killer video of the innovation , popyes cat running with the tripple t4s , with speedmasters , on vhs tape

[CUSTOM PERFORMANCE 1]

In 1985, we ran a full race T4, off the back of Reggie Fountain's tunnel boat, and 2 2.4 Bridgeports on the back of a 30' Chris cat. We were testing the first versions of the CLE case for Mercury. We cooked a bunch of 2.4's, but the T4 never missed a beat all season long. I wish I had pics of it. Mercury cut down a large cleaver used on their #3 sterndrive units and placed a spline within the spline so we could run it of the 12" mid and speedmaster. We never even changed the plugs all year. It was a superb race motor. The boat name was Gulf Marine, a royal blue cat. We built the boat from the ground up and it spent a good deal of time at Lake X.

[lilabner]

Mercury also had a 4 inch bore version of the 3.4..I saw some of the pistons..They were made by TRW..Land and Sea also had a 4 liter kit with a 4 inch bore..I was tempted, but never did build any..I had 5 of them at one time, and one EFI..They were good motors, plenty of power, and got pretty good economy..Much better than my V8's..I also got a pair of the first batch of Cosworth powerheads, on warranty yet..in 1988..they ran sweet..They came with a jet kit for the carbs and a couple other parts..In 1989 Midnight Express had probably 10 EFI's for sale..some ran, some didn't..all take off's..

[AirRide]

Mercury also had a 4 inch bore version of the 3.4..I saw some of the pistons..They were made by TRW..Land and Sea also had a 4 liter kit with a 4 inch bore..I was tempted, but never did build any..I had 5 of them at one time, and one EFI..They were good motors, plenty of power, and got pretty good economy..Much better than my V8's..I also got a pair of the first batch of Cosworth powerheads, on warranty yet..in 1988..they ran sweet..They came with a jet kit for the carbs and a couple other parts..In 1989 Midnight Express had probably 10 EFI's for sale..some ran, some didn't..all take off's..

You had two 3.4 EFI Offshores on a Scarab, did'nt you?