Moesly Seacraft 21 repower opinions

[McGillicuddy]

First of all, I hope y'all on the eastern seaboard survived Matthew with minimal damage. My sister is in JAX and faired pretty well. On the other hand, some friends in Lumberton NC took a beating and are about to lose a dam/levee. God Bless you all.

I'm thinking about re-powering my 21 Moesly for Christmas. Unfortunately, like the Kinks, circa 1979, i'm on a low budget, thus I'm looking for your .02. I took the liberty of dragging sme of Fr. Franks quote over from the earlier I-6 discussion to start an opinion gathering thread for repowering a 21.

Ive been looking for a solid I-6 MC 165, but I think I'd like more top end than 165 can offer and also a fairly efficient cruise ant troll. In that earlier thread, FLexpat mentioned the 292/200 hp set up from FirstMate which sounds appealing. Not sure if the extra 35 ponies gets me much but I'd like to get to 35-40 mph in flat water. In fact its 50 more ponies than right now, as i have a 50 year old 150 mercruiser.

Logic says follow IslandTrader's lead and put a small block gm in there, but I like the idea of keeping the layout original an doing little more than painting the engine cover. using something like 3rdDay's choice of a 400 pound 200 hp on a bracket is also a possibility, I guess. Can you say used 2.6 L Etec? Sure...

Originally Posted by Fr. Frank

[B][I]Mercruiser DID make a 250hp version of this motor for racing purposes...I've only seen two boats with this power setup.
Allmand made a 19' back in 1968 for the offshore racing circuit...powered with a single 250hp 250ci motor. I don't think he ever finished a major race...

Formula made the '69-70 23' with twin 250hp 250ci I-6 Mercruisers and they too, were, in fact, rated at 250hp each... I recall one of the mechanics saying he got it up to 58 mph during "testing".

The thought of getting 200 ponies or better from an I-6 is appealing.

I welcome all thoughts se please, feel free to chime in.