1971Princess32
New Member
i'll get some pics soon, but i own a 1971 Princess 32 and was wondering which engines were fitted, and which legs, if anyone can help answer thatd be great, i dont know any other Princess 32 owners...yet. Kind regards, Ben
Princess 32 1971 Twin Diesels - any idea which itll have?
- Thread starter 1971Princess32
- Start date
Restoration man
Well-Known Member
You should Join the Facebook princess 32 group lots info on there
Bajansailor
Well-Known Member
Welcome to the Forum Ben.
How long have you owned your Princess for, or have you just bought her?
If the latter, it sounds like you did not have a survey carried out on her before purchase?
Here is a link -
Princess 32 Owners Club | Facebook
Here are 4 sisterships for sale on Apollo Duck - they generally seemed to have been fitted with a variety of Volvo engines from 2 x 75 hp up to about 2 x 150 hp.
Princess 32 boats for sale UK, used Princess boats, new Princess boat sales, free photo ads - Apollo Duck
A friend of my parents had one here in the early 70's - I was a wee kid at the time, and used to go out with them on Saturdays on fishing trips, but I remember the engines were often rather tempermental, even though the boat was not very old then.
How long have you owned your Princess for, or have you just bought her?
If the latter, it sounds like you did not have a survey carried out on her before purchase?
Here is a link -
Princess 32 Owners Club | Facebook
Here are 4 sisterships for sale on Apollo Duck - they generally seemed to have been fitted with a variety of Volvo engines from 2 x 75 hp up to about 2 x 150 hp.
Princess 32 boats for sale UK, used Princess boats, new Princess boat sales, free photo ads - Apollo Duck
A friend of my parents had one here in the early 70's - I was a wee kid at the time, and used to go out with them on Saturdays on fishing trips, but I remember the engines were often rather tempermental, even though the boat was not very old then.
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BB1
Well-Known Member
Lift the hatch and have look!
PaulRainbow
Well-Known Member
No good asking on here, you'll need to look at them or post some pics. A 1971 boat could easily have been re-engined, with just about anything. I've seen one P32 refitted with a pair of Ford Transit 2.5 Di engines and i once had a P32 that was originally fitted with 6 cylinder petrol engines, but had been refitted with a pair of 1.9 litre normally aspirated Peugeot engines.
oldgit
Well-Known Member
Greg2
Well-Known Member
Our first boat was a Princess 32 with twin Volvo diesels at 106hp each with VP outdrives. They were a standard fit and are badged Peugeot Idenor motors if memory serves.
Great boat and some happy times aboard and we did our first sea passages with her.
Here are the VP 106hp engines. An easy engine bay to work in!
Great boat and some happy times aboard and we did our first sea passages with her.
Here are the VP 106hp engines. An easy engine bay to work in!
KevinV
Well-Known Member
Out of interest, are the hulls/transoms of the lower powered (presumably river use) versions the same as the higher powered versions? I can see it would be tempting to lay them up thinner?
mil1194
Well-Known Member
Took a 1978 (?) Princess 32 “Bagpuss” from Neyland to Bristol some years ago and that had 4 cylinder 2x 75hp VP’s. Which I suspect/recall were Peugeot lumps.
QBhoy
Well-Known Member
Usually the original spec was the 100ish hp straight 6 NA VP diesels and probably mated to 270 legs or a similar unit. The 32’s with this spec would be the most sought after of the model, I’d think. Fairly rare too.
A word of caution though perhaps and as mentioned in a post earlier… these days, it’s very common to find that a 32 listed for sale, describing twin diesels, might mean that the boat may have at some point had it’s more commonly fitted twin 4 cylinder petrols removed (common for them to fail) and replaced rather crudely (on occasion a diy effort) with two diesels from a road vehicle. Most common of many, might be two old Peugeot or ford engines. Don’t get me wrong…sturdy engines, but I’ve seen varying quality efforts in terms of the standard of marinisation adaptations required. But perhaps worst of all around this notion, might be that the outdrives and their gear ratios were of course originally suited to a higher revving petrol engine. Meaning they were not well suited to an amateur effort of lower revving diesel re power. So much so that very few would be able to get away with a prop pitch change in an effort to overcome. So even if the diesels thrown in were even close to the hp of the original engines…they just wouldn’t perform the same way or even close…just because the power is made at very different rpms, between the two. Anyway…enough doom and gloom from me..hopefully it’s the original VP straight 6 lovelies in the one you have in mind.
final thoughts…just be super aware of the probability or risk that most of these boats may be known to suffer osmosis by now…especially the models kept in fresh water ways for years without seeing the hard too much…as many of them unfortunately have done.
A word of caution though perhaps and as mentioned in a post earlier… these days, it’s very common to find that a 32 listed for sale, describing twin diesels, might mean that the boat may have at some point had it’s more commonly fitted twin 4 cylinder petrols removed (common for them to fail) and replaced rather crudely (on occasion a diy effort) with two diesels from a road vehicle. Most common of many, might be two old Peugeot or ford engines. Don’t get me wrong…sturdy engines, but I’ve seen varying quality efforts in terms of the standard of marinisation adaptations required. But perhaps worst of all around this notion, might be that the outdrives and their gear ratios were of course originally suited to a higher revving petrol engine. Meaning they were not well suited to an amateur effort of lower revving diesel re power. So much so that very few would be able to get away with a prop pitch change in an effort to overcome. So even if the diesels thrown in were even close to the hp of the original engines…they just wouldn’t perform the same way or even close…just because the power is made at very different rpms, between the two. Anyway…enough doom and gloom from me..hopefully it’s the original VP straight 6 lovelies in the one you have in mind.
final thoughts…just be super aware of the probability or risk that most of these boats may be known to suffer osmosis by now…especially the models kept in fresh water ways for years without seeing the hard too much…as many of them unfortunately have done.
oldgit
Well-Known Member
Unlike the the hulls of the 33 and 37 where you actually had choice of keels*, think the 32 only came in one version and presumably thickness of hull. ?
* "Y" keel for better improved low speed directionality or with flatter V at stern for planing.
Having helmed both types of hull, could never detect much difference.
Do recall an ex forumite located on the Thames who re-engined a boat with 4 pot ex Mercedes auto engine, it was a beautiful well finished conversion done with some care.
Not sure what had been done if anything about the gearbox or prop pitching but at the 6 knot max cruise limit it was reving at around 3000rpm it felt more .
* "Y" keel for better improved low speed directionality or with flatter V at stern for planing.
Having helmed both types of hull, could never detect much difference.
Do recall an ex forumite located on the Thames who re-engined a boat with 4 pot ex Mercedes auto engine, it was a beautiful well finished conversion done with some care.
Not sure what had been done if anything about the gearbox or prop pitching but at the 6 knot max cruise limit it was reving at around 3000rpm it felt more .
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