repower, 1980 glasply

[deckmonkey]

I have a beautiful 2100 series, Alaska Bulkhead Hardtop 1980.
found on a grocery store pin your ad up board.
and got it for an amazing deal.
this is a beautiful baot, only 1100 total hours use,,160 omc i/o.
want to put an Evinrude Etec on it badly,,what can somebody tell me about this conversion.
should I stick with the I/O set up for greater preformance, I dont want to worry about transon breakage here in Ak,, i love to winter fish and hunt,,( gets rough), any input would be great,,I am an expierenced boater,,not my first time around ,but I wanna do My Glasply justice,, she is a beauty,I actually drooled over this boat here in my hometown when I was a youngster of 15,,funny how life works,,mom always said.
thanks Jim

 

[erikgreen]

Re: repower,

Re: repower,

The conversion isn't strictly speaking difficult, but you'd have to remove the old engine and mounts, redo the transom (both to remove the old hole and reinforce it) which might involve adding additional structure inside to attach the stringers to it, and then clean up the work so it looks decent.

Then you'd have to fit the engine and run fuel and control lines to it, etc.

The problem is, the hull was made to have weight in a certain place (the old engine) and you're moving it farther aft, which will affect balance and loading, as well as handling of the hull.

Is there a reason you don't want to repower with a mercruiser set-up? It's more power, cheaper, and would keep the boat loading the same...

Erik

 

[QC]

Re: repower,

Re: repower,

I'm with Erik.

General consensus is that I/O to OB conversions rarely work out satisfactorily. Considering this is a Stringer, maybe the better bet would be to convert to a Merc or Volvo I/O which will take significant transom work as well. The problem with the I/O to OB deal is typically weight balance . . . To solve the cost issue on the I/O to I/O deal most recommend finding a donor boat with the engine/drive combo you want. Considering the original plan to put on an ETEC it sounds like you would have a decent budget to do this right.

 

[deckmonkey]

Re: repower,

Re: repower,

The conversion isn't strictly speaking difficult, but you'd have to remove the old engine and mounts, redo the transom (both to remove the old hole and reinforce it) which might involve adding additional structure inside to attach the stringers to it, and then clean up the work so it looks decent.

Then you'd have to fit the engine and run fuel and control lines to it, etc.

The problem is, the hull was made to have weight in a certain place (the old engine) and you're moving it farther aft, which will affect balance and loading, as well as handling of the hull.

Is there a reason you don't want to repower with a mercruiser set-up? It's more power, cheaper, and would keep the boat loading the same...

Erik

thank you so much,,I have thought about this alot,,and I believe you are correct,,my first ride in a speed boat was the summer of 1973,,it was my uncle's glasply runaboout,,brand new,,b4 that I had only been on my dads commercial fishing boat that did a whole 6 knots. the ride was amazing,,carved the water so nice,,felt as if I were flying.
I was 6 or 7 yrs old. I think a mercruiser would be perfect~~and keeping it american. ( feel like you read my mind) was looking at mercruiser online,,very nice products.
Jim

 

[deckmonkey]

Re: repower,

Re: repower,

thank you so much,,I have thought about this alot,,and I believe you are correct,,my first ride in a speed boat was the summer of 1973,,it was my uncle's glasply runaboout,,brand new,,b4 that I had only been on my dads commercial fishing boat that did a whole 6 knots. the ride was amazing,,carved the water so nice,,felt as if I were flying.
I was 6 or 7 yrs old. I think a mercruiser would be perfect~~and keeping it american. ( feel like you read my mind) was looking at mercruiser online,,very nice products.
Jim

I believe that the awesome handling of this boat would be compromised,,I did not realize mercruiser was such a good product,,was an outboard guy mostly,,I have been doing my studying on these motors.
jim

 

[deckmonkey]

Re: repower,

Re: repower,

I'm with Erik.

General consensus is that I/O to OB conversions rarely work out satisfactorily. Considering this is a Stringer, maybe the better bet would be to convert to a Merc or Volvo I/O which will take significant transom work as well. The problem with the I/O to OB deal is typically weight balance . . . To solve the cost issue on the I/O to I/O deal most recommend finding a donor boat with the engine/drive combo you want. Considering the original plan to put on an ETEC it sounds like you would have a decent budget to do this right.

thank you for your input,,I very much appreciate it, I will post pics of my boat,,unfortunately,,this economy has halted all effort for the time being, but I look at it this way, I waited and wanted this boat for 29 years,, now it is mine and i am going to make sure when she slides back into the water,,she will be new and fresh and better then the day she rolled of the assembly line back in 1980 in Marysville Wa.

 

[BobsGlasstream]

Re: repower, 1980 glasply

deckmonkey,
I also agree with erikgreen and QC. I am helping a friend convert from a OMC cobra to Mercruiser. They do make a conversion kit to still use the OMC transom Assembly and the Mercruiser attach?s to in, rather then changing the transom. I also found a adapter plate on ebay that is made of machined Aluminum that bolts to the transom using the OMC bolt pattern. The later was more money but not as time consuming as changing the transom.
MY 2 cents worth.
Bob

 

[Walter Eckland...]

Re: repower, 1980 glasply

My dad bought a new 1980 20' Glasply cuddy at the Seattle Kingdome boat show. It weighs about 4,000 lbs with it's 470 mercrusier. I've had it for the past 20 years and will eventually pass it to my son. I've had the engine rebuilt once and outdrive twice, and replaced or repaired every exterior part their is. It has an external alternator and pertronix ignition, and fresh water cooled. It's a great engine, except for one thing: It's not enough power for that size boat. With four men in the boat, everyone has to be forward just to get the boat on top of the water to plane. So, I'm considering re-powering it with a 350 and alpha outdrive, weighing about 1200 lbs. Does anyone know how much a 470 with outdrive weighs? My other idea was a sea drive/250 Yamaha. I realize the weight is further aft, but it's only 500 lbs. Both options will require glass work, to either cover the whole or make it bigger. Any thoughts as to which one is better with respect to performance, noise, vibration, mileage?

 

[ondarvr]

Re: repower, 1980 glasply

Almost every hull of that vintage used the same design for both I/O and OB, the only difference was the transom. Glasplys respond well to the conversion. Is it cheap and easy... no, but it does work well.

The issue is the amount of money involved in buying, or having a bracket made, then buying an OB, plus the steering and controls. Sticking with an I/O, even with converting to another style is cheaper and easier.