Stbd 6-92 Bit The Big One

I would do all six kits.

I have the same boat with 671's and there is room to take the pan off and inframe the mains.

+1

I would do the entire engine. There's a good reason the liner split and it's more than just a stuck ring. Either someone used the wrong liners and they were too loose in the bore or cheap Chinese rebuild parts. I would think you could overhaul it in place.

Yes you can do kits and liners in your 46 post I did. You can drop pan and torque rods. A big mirror helps. I did not remove exhaust manifolds. very difficult to remove connecting studs. IMO would change all kits and liners. Just my opinion.

I have 6v92 JT's in 46225. I have done both engines, with all Detroit parts, in the boat. There is room underneath to drop the pan but you can only move it around to get to the rod bearing caps.
Two men can lift the heads out but putting them back on the outside block requires a cum-a-long to hold it in place in order to ensure that the water jacket gaskets are installed properly. I actually used my salon floor bar, raised up with a couple of 4 x 4's to lower the heads in place. There are also head alignment pins to make sure she goes on perfect.

Dropping the pan and cleaning the old gasket off is the worst part of the job in my opinion. I would do all six if you have to do one. I hate dropping the pan.

Keep the engine in the boat. My starboard engine was pulled to have it rebuilt and dyno'ed by Detroit, but the amount of woodwork and wiring damage was not worth it in my opinion. That was before I owned her and the cost was substantially more than working in the boat. All my work was done in the water at my house. Time and money with a good Detroit mechanic as a friend is all you need. A bottle of rum is helpful.

Hey Ralph, I put that in to see if you would bite!! Ha Ha
Dave

I don't think you need to take the engine off of the mounts. I'd rebuild it in place if I could. Perhaps a little more difficult to get to the rods and mains but I'd do a major if I'm taking it apart that far.

I agree with Cap J. Keep us posted on your experience.

I hate to use the term "might as well" and "as long as your are in there"

but as long as you have one head off, and while your in there,
you might as well take the other head off and do all six kits.

The cost difference in parts and labor for one kit vs six kits seems to make sense to do all 6.

Unless, maybe you were running a commercial operation and needed to get up and running asap.

We did a complete overhaul last spring by removing the salon window, lifting the motor and turning it 90 degrees and blocking it, this allowed for the motor to sit up high and getting in and around was much easier, we left the trans in place. Good Luck!

I do have some pictures but they were too large to send, send me an e mail to [email deleted, use PM] and I'll shoot those over to you. Regarding the rigging, we had the yard crane poke their boom through the window to allow us to turn it.