I was at an engine show about six years ago taking with a
boat engine collector, and he said the Bearcat 55 engine was the
same as a Crosley, tipped on end, but claimed they were
interchangeable. I remember my father visiting a boatyard to look
at parts schematics but I don't think he found anything he could
use. This man told me he had a stock twin-carb manifold that would
bolt on a Crosley. I was just curious if any of that makes sense,
I guess it would mean an alternate source of parts if true?
The Bearcat 55 (from what I have learned) is a larger
engine, and the crankcase and its parts are not interchangeable,
the cylinder assy can be put on a Crosley crankcase.
Fisher-Pierce bought the rights to build the Homelite
(Crosley derivative) boat engine in 1966. Fisher-Pierce was/is the
parent company of Boston Whaler Boats. It was sold as the Bearcat
55 until production stopped in 1972. I got this info from Homelite
web page.
http://web.archive.org/web/20010517215204/members.aol.com/homelite55/index.html?mtbrand=AOL_US
This is a partial archive left from when Members AOL hosting went away. If you find it's new home let me know.