Repowering a Volvo MD 11C with 110S saildrive

jashenderson

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I have a 1980 Volvo MD 11C with 110S saildrive on my 33" sloop. I am considering repowering. Some people say I should simply recondition my old motor (it's salt water cooled). Others say I should go with a Yanmar with saildrive. Others say put in a new Volvo. Can anyone of you give me some advice?

Jim Henderson
 

roycharles

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I replaced my Volvo MD7 and 110s saildrive 18 months ago with a Volvo d1-20 and 130s.
One consideration was that I didn't want to replace the engine/saildrive bed.
Volvo supplied adaptor brackets to fit the new set up to the original engine bed but I understand they no longer supply these.
If your 110S sail drive is still serviceable I believe that Vetus or Beta can supply everything you need to fit their engine to the existing saildrive and engine bed and this would probably be a cheaper, and some would say better, alternative.
You could probably refurbish your MD 11 but from my experience the biggest problem with raw water cooled
engines is the degree of corrosion they may have suffered so you could end up spending lots of money on an old engine which could fail through corrosion problems. Also certain vital spare parts for the MD7 were no longer available eg. thermostat housing which was badly corroded.
Overall I have been pleased with the Volvo and I don't believe it worked out a excessively more expensive than the alternatives.
 

tillergirl

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I was in Volspec about three weeks ago and they had adaptor 'beds' for re-engining existing saildrives. I didn't really take much notice of 'which' saildrives but they seem to be offering kits for this.
 
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I did exactly this with a Beta 1005.

Advantages (for me) - Beta allowed me to keep the saildrive - which in my case was in fine condition (and I had a spare) - they just fit a drive adaptor plate.
They also build mounts to fit the existing engine bed - made fitting it relatively straightforward.
Allow self fitting with no warranty issues

So far I've been very pleased with it. Things to consider - engone revs at 3600 as opposed to 2600 - so prop will spin faster - may need to consider - but in my case I've kept the same
 
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