If that has the orignal heads then they are probably regular chevy small
block heads. They were not using the sodium filled exhaust valves back
then. Get the casting no off the head and you can match up a similar one
pretty easily in the used market. I hope it is a gasket and not a cracked
block. The guy did winterize it last year?

I went with edlebrock performer rpm, aluminum heads but I'm on a fresh water
lake. Aluminum heads, aluminum intake, and aluminum exhaust manifolds will
take 2-300 lbs off the tail end of your boat :-)

"Han" wrote in message
om...
Thanks for the info. The previous owner had the engine and outdrive
completely rebuilt (I was told but don't know for sure). It's a 1979
Mercruiser 260. The head gasket blown with water in the oil after
less than 20 hrs of use. I wonder what could have cause that. The
engine block and manifold does look pretty new and clean for a 1979
engine. I want to do it right and don't mind spend a little extra to
replace the head and related components and hope it will be more
reliable. Can you recommend a set of head/valve/gasket/ect I can buy
outright to replace the existing potentially damaged heads. Should I
go to a Mercruiser dealer and pay full list price or get it from a
discount auto part store? Can you recommend a brand name. I really
appreciate your help.

Thanks again.