Canon18
New Member
I'm thinking about re-powering an old rescue boat that I've been storing for years but am struggling to come up with a cost effective solution. I was wondering therefore if anyone has done anything similar and may have any helpful suggestions (in particular engine make/models etc).
The boat was originally fitted with a pair of 1970's 50hp Perkins diesels coupled to Enfield outdrives. She's about 20' LOA and would make 20 knots flat out. The engines and drives are in a very sorry state and in my opinion are not worth investing any money in.
The current options therefore are:
1 - Repower with two second hand more 'modern' 50/60hp diesels and fit a pair of use outdrives such as a Mercruiser or Volvo Penta. A pair of 60 or 80hp Perkins Primas may do the trick here but it's surprising how costly this is... 2 Primas at circa £2.5k each, same for the outdrives, plus ancillaries etc - That's a lot of money for a pair of old engines and drives which are noisy and will have less than sparkling performance.
2 - Repower with a single larger diesel and used outdrive. Apart from the obvious GRP work to the transom and engines beds (not too much if a problem for me), this could be a good solution. Finding a cost effective older engine which will put out circa 120hp whilst weighing no more than the 2 Perkins is proving difficult however. Sadly the budget won't stretch to an nice new Yanmar and a Cummins 4BT although great would probably shred any outdrive I can find. Are there any other lightweight readily available 4 cylinder engines that may do the trick in this situation? Maybe something Japanese that could be marinised easily?
3 - Fit an outboard and take the cheapest and easiest option (relatively speaking)... The downside being that the engine would have to be fitted to a transom bracket to allow it to tilt up and that I would now have a massive engine box with no engines in it! Removing that and making it pretty would be a monster job although in fairness I would gain a fair bit of deck space. I do prefer diesels however!
So, a bit rambling but maybe someone with some more engine experience could chip in with a good suggestion or a hidden gem of an engine? If I could gain a bit in the speed department that would be great but I would like a simple, robust and dependable engine. The boat is special to me so buying something else isn't an option I'm afraid!
Thanks in advance.
The boat was originally fitted with a pair of 1970's 50hp Perkins diesels coupled to Enfield outdrives. She's about 20' LOA and would make 20 knots flat out. The engines and drives are in a very sorry state and in my opinion are not worth investing any money in.
The current options therefore are:
1 - Repower with two second hand more 'modern' 50/60hp diesels and fit a pair of use outdrives such as a Mercruiser or Volvo Penta. A pair of 60 or 80hp Perkins Primas may do the trick here but it's surprising how costly this is... 2 Primas at circa £2.5k each, same for the outdrives, plus ancillaries etc - That's a lot of money for a pair of old engines and drives which are noisy and will have less than sparkling performance.
2 - Repower with a single larger diesel and used outdrive. Apart from the obvious GRP work to the transom and engines beds (not too much if a problem for me), this could be a good solution. Finding a cost effective older engine which will put out circa 120hp whilst weighing no more than the 2 Perkins is proving difficult however. Sadly the budget won't stretch to an nice new Yanmar and a Cummins 4BT although great would probably shred any outdrive I can find. Are there any other lightweight readily available 4 cylinder engines that may do the trick in this situation? Maybe something Japanese that could be marinised easily?
3 - Fit an outboard and take the cheapest and easiest option (relatively speaking)... The downside being that the engine would have to be fitted to a transom bracket to allow it to tilt up and that I would now have a massive engine box with no engines in it! Removing that and making it pretty would be a monster job although in fairness I would gain a fair bit of deck space. I do prefer diesels however!
So, a bit rambling but maybe someone with some more engine experience could chip in with a good suggestion or a hidden gem of an engine? If I could gain a bit in the speed department that would be great but I would like a simple, robust and dependable engine. The boat is special to me so buying something else isn't an option I'm afraid!
Thanks in advance.
