petrol to diesels - but which ones for our Triana

Would it? its ~£20k for a new 300 Verado and you'd need a pod and to seal up the transom. I am clueless to what a new 300hp V8 with matching s/d would cost. Also would have to budget for new engine bearers and works to the transom. And I reckon the advantages of the outboard are to be considered.

Another option might be twin 140hp Suzuki's which are a light engine, very reliable and easy to find 2nd hand.

I would imagine the issue might be more about defacing a lovely Levi.....
 
The difference if any is minimal and certainly not what you would base a decision on.
You can get a S/D package for about the price of a Verado.
Surprising I know.

Yes, the look would be pretty terrible and I am not sure if you could ever get the same hull performance.
 
LBRodders said:
The difference if any is minimal and certainly not what you would base a decision on.
You can get a S/D package for about the price of a Verado.
Surprising I know.

Yes, the look would be pretty terrible and I am not sure if you could ever get the same hull performance.
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Weight would be in the wrong place, big problemo I think.

Someone once told me he was thinking of putting a pair of outboards on the back of a Huntsman 28, I nearly throttled him.
 
I guess it depends on two key questions:

1. What are you trying to gain from the re-power?
2. What is your realistic budget?

I looked into the economics / practicalities a few years ago around re-powering a P266 from original V6 4.3 volvo petrols. Ideally a pair of used KAD32s might've been great. However, as has been said, trying to find a decent pair or two singles within a similar timeframe is difficult. And there's always a reason why an engine is for sale......Add in the complexities around bell housings, fuel systems, drive ratios and propellers as well as the 'unknowns' of used engines (turbos/superchrgers) and the circle is not easy to square. At the time, single KAD32s were around £4/5k each, used.

Out of interest I had quotes of around £25k for two new V6 4.3 petrols, 200hp with new DP drives. This sounds like quite a large sum but I think if you add up all the costs of used diesels / drives / gear ratios / props / risks of turbos/superchargers failing etc. etc, I'm not sure the delta would be that great.

Whilst you'll never get a financial return from a re-power, this might not be the only consideration. For some, the thought of newer, more fuel efficient engines that enable you and your family to enjoy more time out on the water and less time fixing / maintaining engines and outdrives is attractive. If you use your man maths calculator to off-set the cost of the re-power over the next 10 years then this might also be more attractive.

There's no such thing a free lunch and I guess the options are new cheap(ish) petrols or used expensive(ish) diesels. You pays your money and you takes your choice!
 
Hambleite said:
Whilst you'll never get a financial return from a re-power, this might not be the only consideration. For some, the thought of newer, more fuel efficient engines that enable you and your family to enjoy more time out on the water and less time fixing / maintaining engines and outdrives is attractive. If you use your man maths calculator to off-set the cost of the re-power over the next 10 years then this might also be more attractive.
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Absolutely spot on. ??
Time is precious for us, we travel to our boat and so want turn key reliability that we can can physically afford.
That leaves one option with it's associated pros and cons.
Anyway, have you seen the new Mercruiser 6.2 V8? I'd just go to my boat to look at it ?
 
Here are four options, all single engines

1] Second hand single petrol small block V8; cheap, easy to maintain, loads of parts availablity + room in the engine compartment. Here is one that looks clean for £7K https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mercruiser-5-7-V8-260-Marine-Engine/332826105242?hash=item4d7dfb559a:g:T8IAAOSwR6Bbslxs At 260 hp it would give similar performance to your two 151's but it's raw water cooled, which means the heads intake manifold and block will need a careful look at and will have a limited life, the exhaust manifolds and risers should be replaced every 5 years at a minimum. On this basis a re-engine project will be about £10k

2] Second hand diesel package; you would need to target at least 250hp so look for a KAD 43 or 300 with a duo prop leg, a VM/Mercruiser/cummins 4.3 with a Bravo 3 or 290DP drive, or a Yanmar 6lP. All of these are pretty long in comparison with your 151s and fitting them in and leaving service access to the belts and water pump will probably mean extending through the bulkhead into the tank compartment. Package price £10-20k? and it would well be an engine with a few hours

3] New modern petrol V8; if new then it must be the Chevy LS base engine either the Volvo 430 https://www.volvopenta.com/marinele...drive-gasoline/v8-430-ce-ox/v8-430-ce-ox.html or the mercruiser 6.2 https://www.mercurymarine.com/en-gb/europe/engines/inboard-and-sterndrive/mercruiser/62l/ it's a £30k package though.

4] New V8 Diesel package; this is the way to go, really compact[it'll fit without cutting much] powerful, quiet. Whats not to like? part from the £45k+ price
https://www.mercurymarine.com/en-gb/europe/engines/diesel/mercury-diesel/42l-tier-3/

Food for thought - I'd fix the tank and go boating!
 
Thanks to all who have responded.

Paul, the tank fix is half way there, we will have two stainless tanks giving us about 350 litres capacity. The tanks will be made for diesel but they will have petrol in them at first to go boating as you rightly say,

We have put the engine change on the back burner for the moment which on balance is the overall advice provided in this thread I think, in combination with our own thoughts but it is good to know and give consideration to our options!!!

Our existing engines are from about 1986 according to various date codes, so its not the first time they have been changed,

They are in good shape now after much fettling, and what prompted the question of diesel, was safety, availability of petrol v diesel, cost of fuel and the amount of work required to keep the petrols running.

Remembering that this is a new to us Triana we have been bothered by the amount of petrol fumes in the cabin and in particular the heads since we started to fill the tank......but now we have found that the grp tank has been slowly digesting itself caused by Ethanol.......... I think the new tanks will stop that worry.

The one trip out we have had in nearly 18 months of ownership/restoration showed the petrols have great pulling power we ventured up to 2200 rpm at 23 knots and still accelerating!
 
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Freebee said:
The one trip out we have had in nearly 18 months of ownership/restoration showed the petrols have great pulling power we ventured up to 2200 rpm at 23 knots and still accelerating!
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That doesn't sound right to me. Do you mean 3200rpm?
 
nope .....gps recorded speed against dual tacho's, I would expect the gps to be accurate and the tachos well they are old but electrical. Lets just say its an indication. We were well pleased.

We weren't going to press those petrols too far first time out when your listening for every squeak and bump. Having had a complete cylinder head failure only a couple of weeks before (new head fitted now).

When we got back to the pontoon one engine was playing up with carb jets blocking issues and it was clearing the jets for the umpteenth time and retracing the fuel lines.... I realised that the fuel tank was dissolving itself. Hence toys well out of the pram!!!
 
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