diesel conversion?

[handball]

I have a 30 ft. weekender with 350 mercs straight inboards with prop pockets.<br />I would like to know if anyone has had experience with diesel conversions for this or similar boats.I am not interested in going 30 knots but more like cruising at about 14 knots.I was wondering if a pair of 120 h.p. perkins or similar size yanmar diesels would do the job, and about the costs to buy a pair.I have done a lot of long distance cruising in the past with diesels and love their reliability and economy.With the price of gas sky high it is now out of the question to make long cruises of 500 or a 1000 miles.Any info about conversions and fuel burn would be greatly appreciated.<br /><br />Bill

 

[dmorley]

Re: diesel conversion?

Handball,<br />You're probably going to run into a complete drive train replacement. Reason is any diesel you use will have a lot more torque and chances are slim that your existing gear ratios will work. I looked around on the internet and talked with Cummings about the Mercury/Cummings systems. If my memory is correct you'll be looking at about $20K per drive.

 

[navigator336]

Re: diesel conversion?

I would think the 120 diesels will move you at 14 knots with the right size props. The problem may be with the prop pockets. They may limit the diameter of the replacement props so you'll only be able to change pitch. Unless you can get a deal on some lightly used engines and drives, you'd probably be better off selling the boat and buying one with diesels.

 

[Peter J Fraser]

Re: diesel conversion?

Bill,<br />A friend of mine repowered his boat some years back with a 6.5 Chev V8 diesel with remarkable results. Took out a s/b chev and rebuilt the diesel before fitting it out. Top speed was about the same but the fuel consumption was cut dramatically.<br />Good thing was all the cooling system stuff and manifolds transfered over and kept the conversion costs lower.<br /><br />Peter