Caldwell Racing Technology Block Kit Pricing

[davidmercury]

​this might be a much better option ahead for me rather than rerigging with 400r+

[CUDA]

Yeah it's OK to run a monster V-8 against a 2.5...

I remember Wayne Taylor's dream motor project , he had some good ideas ... but where you going to run it.

Like you say many don't want change and I understand the investment and how small the market is, but

thank God someone is doing something different , no one to my knowledge has been able to make a big

cube Mercury live very long , I understand this will be the second phase of this project , to me the most

interesting .

If you think about it , everything we run is old, all the motors / they did try green motor racing did not

catch on, so it was dropped, all the small outboard boats we use have not changed in 20 - 30 years .

I wonder how are they getting 400-450 hp is that from a 2.5?

[whipper]

Huh I read the first post in the thread starter and went wow is that ever cheep for a billet 400 hp SR motor block just add parts I already have. Ten i was reading some other posts and went wow tough crowd!! haha

i think the whole point is to use what ya got not keep your old block. Strip that old stuff down and put together with these blocks and you will have a reliable 400-500 hp motor. I dont know wear some of you are coming up with 50K from unless your not planning on using a motor you have already and have to buy everything new i guess? But who does that? Big pockets not me. Whats a 400R merc worth these days and whats the difference in power to weight? i would think if you own an Allison,STV,Progression,Superboat,Triad ,Champ boat,ect ect light go fast boat under 2000 lbs you will be hard pressed to find any motor that comes close to the performance any of these blocks thrown together in your back yard will with spare parts!! Or if ya won the loto go for it buy all brand new stuff the same as the old stuff and shine that byich up! Wont be any faster but will sure looks perdy!

Bottom line I cant see it costing over 28 maybe 30 if all ready have a donor motor to make 400 hp? Same trim pump throttle linkage,cowl, everything? 320lb 400 hp 10000+ rpm {reliable} whats the next closest 400 hp motor going to cost to convert over if you had 2.5,s on previously? Most of the other blocks that can make 400 hp turn less rpm and weigh 3 times as much and are what now 10 lts!! haha

If i was engine builder and could make a 260 or s3000 over 400 hp or 500 hp then ya maybe this wouldnt be for me. But as a dude that simply take it apart and put back together { maybe the second time i tryed} This works for me!! And being from Canada i like the puck idea. any thing pUCK,s got my interest. lol :]

[Capt.Insane-o]

Yer not gonna make big reliable power on stock size merc center mains, but a retrofit block is a damn good idea.

[whipper]

Yer not gonna make big reliable power on stock size merc center mains, but a retrofit block is a damn good idea.

Beef up mains check. I take it most stuff would need to be beefed up? How would 350-400 hp be ona stock SM or TM fatties? Could ya run a 20 inch or would it need to have a 15inch or less?

Any power over 300 is super awesome for my standards. Just for play anyway. 350 oh ya baby good to go!!

[powerabout]

Cant see a problem racing it, if there are 2 guys with them its a race, just in a custom block class.
It might wake up some tinkerers to make a sleeved down OMC's to compete head to head??
Or add a custom OMC without a cast in exhaust??

Doesnt everyone else racing stuff use custom blocks in the auto world?

[jackiewilson]

As an old fart, just sitting on the sidelines minding my own business—— just making the occasional observation——- I watched this beautiful piece of kit start out at $10,000, then kinda meteteorite up to $30,000, just for a very short block, with no spark or fuel ????
Now I have only a limited knowledge of engineering——— but I do know it costs a hell of of a lot of cash to get ignition and gasoline to work satisfactorily in a new motor———- oh yes, then there’s the little problem of linkage ???
Five will get you ten you’re looking at closer to $ 100,000 for a ready to run, bolt on CRT 450 HP motor.
What would be ideal for a race team these days ?

2 complete motors.
4 powerheads
2 short blocks
2 fuel systems
2 ignition systems
1 spare hood

and that’s a one boat team .

Now just for arguments sake, let’s say you had Bill Gates, Sultan of Brunei, or even Donald Trump himself as the main sponsor and decided to run a two boat team ?
Oh, Craperootle, I think we might just have hit seven figures———- why even the FECKIN drivers might want paying ?

["HITMAN"]

I have to say a great thanks to CRT for what they have done for the sport in terms of the work that went into this project & finally bringing it to market & this is coming from a non-merc fan & if I could afford it I would get one too for what it offers, so for the people that will be able to afford these motors Kudo's to them... But for Most mere mortals I would say spending around 10-15K which I see as doable for most in the sport will get you a reliable 450-550HP Bush 3.3 OMC just food for thought in my opinion and please all I am not here to make this a Merc vs OMC argument or bashing this thread just simply stating the obvious here in terms of getting the HP but costing a lot less.
Just my 2 cents.

[gfinch]

There are many people that say "You can't do that." to the few that will.

The words such as can't and try are overly used. They limit progress. Can't, a word better to use is shouldn't. Try, is limiting whereas succeeding is the continued attempt till success is achieved.

I feel blessed to know both Wayne Taylor, Dave Bush and others who in their own way were a part in these projects.

I own that OMC referred to above. It started in Wayne's shop and is a continuing work in progress in Dave's.

I call it the "Sack O Cats"

[Chaz]

I remember when they said that mother Merc was no longer going to be building replacement 2.5L NIC and 300x blocks . No one had anything good to say about them.
I had a chance to ask someone from the shop "up on the hill" if someone had bumped their head . he said , they had a half a dozen 280 long blocks on the shelf for over 18 months that they practically had to give away to one man , just to get rid of them .
I smiled and thanked him for the years they did make them . No need in arguing , that's yesterdays news with them .

Enter Matt Caldwell . We all do different things , for different reasons . But one thing he chose to do was build billet outboard blocks . No easy task . Might look easy , but there are a bunch of little nooks , crannies , semi circles , radiuses , parallel and decked surfaces to deal with . Every movement requires a tool acquisition or pressure - feed rate , edge location , start - stop points , tool wear , the thought process is pretty endless . Misplace a decimal point or shank the tool .. the correct term is WTF crashed ..

Priced ingot's of 7075 big enough to cut a block and a front half lately .. ???
Heads , slide intake .. ?
How about a half dozen NIC sleeves ... ?
I'm sure the price even has Matt scratching his head . But you know what , stuff cost's what it costs . Watch the video below . As a spoof the guy takes his $3,000,000.00 Muria to Car-Max to get an offer . And thinks almost 60K is a great price for a Mustang that he see's while he's there . I guess it really just come's down to what section of the trough you eat from . I can afford to go out by ocean , but not every day . I'm not going to complain and I'm not going to go sit and read every item on the menu ask a million questions and then get up and leave . I'm just going to go to Flannigan's right off the bat ..

Over the last year or two the ever present , are we there yet daddy , hurry , hurry .
Now that it's here , "see above" and what was going "to save racing" is now going to ruin it ... ? Since when does the material a block is made out of make it any faster or slower ?
Anyone can claim anything . And yes it's true that starting off with a clean slate allows you to fix , update , reinforce , improve area's that were lacking . but chance's are pretty good that the hardest working racers had learned and dealt with those issues in the past already . But on the same token , casting a part can make inside turn radiuses a bunch easier to accomplish .
I'm sure part of the what was it called "moon shot price" over the past year had to do with improved machining techniques and equipment . Dyno and water flog time might seem like a "fun job" . I guarantee you finding 5 HP on a well developed combination can be costly in both time and money .

Going with an outfit like P.M. is good for both sides . It keeps the tire kickers from getting thrown out , and it also gives the supplier a Industry recognized name to show credibility . Win-win ....

For those that can't like that , call one of the Brothertons , Dick Maskins or Ray Franks . I'm sure they would be willing to cast up whatever you want . However you want it .

Or as my buddy was teasing me the other day ... go digging thru Rucks junk pile after hours , find some POS that got sawed in half .. call Chaz and say , No matter what it is ,

stop what your doing !

I was idling , I heard a noise , Ya gotta weld this thing back together for me by yesterday ... don't worry .. I gotz $10.32 cents for ya ..

[whipper]

Does anyone know what kinda hours the SR for instance has ran before needing a new slide in sleeve? Ive heard they are running 2 or 3 time reg nic hours but that was last year. So i was wondering if anyone has any idea if they can get 300+ hrs from 350hp motor yet? i was told 2 times a reg Mercs runabilty as this was another part of the apeal to me with the cooler running billet. less down time = a good thing. Ease of replacing parts another good thing.

I would sure like to see some pricing on complete turn key motors also. There 15inch mid is off the charts nice!! 15inch turn key less gearcase and cowl price? I guess I could call ProMarine ands ask. lol I think {cant recall exactly} but the 350 sr that could be up graded down the road with the 400hp pucks was around 35 less gear case. So just a little more than a lesser HP E-tech or yamaha but about 200-300 lbs lighter. Fully dressed motors were in the 330lb range. haha thats sick!!!

[whipper]

Ok i just read buy the weekend or next week more pricing details are coming like sealed or dressed power heads and all parts needed to finish a motor if you didnt have a donor motor to swap parts ect...

[noli]

.

... all parts needed to finish a motor if you didnt have a donor motor to swap parts ect...

can a complete motor be purchased as an option? I mean powerhead, pan, mid, lu....and what's the price for such a complete motor?

the application of said motor would be for an offshore 30~36 foot cat





.

[jackiewilson]

Million dollar question Noli —— been asking the same question for quite some time but never quite got a straight answer .
1. How much is a turn key powerhead?
2. Can I buy a turn key bolt on ready to go Caldwell motor ? How much.

Good luck Noli. ——- hope you get an answer——- a lot of guys ready to buy and go racing. But they don’t have open ended cheque books.

[CUDA]

Ok OK just send the $60,000. your money is worth more than ours , so it's a BLOODY DEAL MATE.