Not too many people enjoy facing challenges. Most of us love the easy way out. Not Kevin and Angus of Junkyard Digs YouTube channel. They’ll work on anything with a combustion engine, yearning for a second chance at life. In a previous episode, they set up a challenge to revive as many stalled cars in a Junkyard in under two hours. It wasn’t a complete loss – a 1957 Chevy grain truck postponed a date with the crushers. On their latest upload, they attempted to revive a big block 70s boat abandoned for years.
Boats and cars share much in common, even though they don’t meet eye to eye. A part from ferrying us from one place to the other, they work under the same basic principle and are propelled forward by an engine.
Kevin has never worked on boats before, but after stumbling on a $500 big block 1977 Century Arabian boat on Facebook Market, he could resist the urge to get it back up and running.
“I know very little about boats. I know even less about whatever the hell is Infront of me right now because this thing seems a little unique, especially with what’s in the back. That right there is a big block, Mopar,” Kevin said upon inspecting the boat’s internals.
The Century Arabian was a powerboat manufactured and produced by the American boat building company Century Boat (CEBC). Currently considered an antique classic water vessel, the Arabian was designed for watersports.
The 1977 Century Arabian isn't your regular powerboat, it packs a potent engine at the back. It’s driven by a 440CI Chrysler big block V8 marine motor.
“The marine motors, I don’t know if this will spin the same direction or not since it’s a v-drive. It might spin backward. I have no idea. Supposedly, they should have a forged crank and a different cam, maybe, different valve springs. This, for all intents and purposes, should be a 330 horsepower 440 big block Mopar,” Kevin revealed.
For car enthusiasts like Kevin, the big block 440 V8 isn’t just another powerboat engine. If anything, it’s a familiar face in the American muscle car scene—an evolution of Chrysler’s RB design.
The 7.2-liter 440 V8 was a final variation of the Chrysler RB design engine (Raised Block) that took advantage of the wedge characteristic on the 413 to bore out more displacement for extra torque.
This powerplant was good for 375 hp (380 ps) and 480 lb-ft (651 Nm) of torque between 1967 and 1971. The engine was detuned in 1972 to meet emission regulations cutting down the power to 335 hp (340 ps).
Kevin’s find had been lying abandoned for three years. It was in reasonably good condition, considering it only had 260 hours. Still, it needed a little TLC, a steering cable, and a fuel tank drain service.
After some minor checks and a dash of starter fluid, the 440 V8 rumbled to life. It had a cooling system issue, but he finally got it running right after some fiddling. The exhaust sounds were brutal!
We recommend watching the video below for the detailing, repair, and first water cruise session in years. Spoiler alert: they hit a snag mid-cruise.
Humphrey is a car enthusiast whose love and passion for automobiles extended into collecting, writing, driving, and working on cars. He got his passion for cars from his Dad, who spent thousands of hours working on his old junky 1970 E20 Toyota Corolla. Years later, he would end up doing the same with a series of lemons he’s owned throughout his adult life. Full profile
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