Weight of a '88 4 cyl Mercruiser with I think a alpha 1

[River_Lizard]

What's the weight of a 2.5 liter and anything bad about this year of 4 cylinder mercruisers?

 

[tazrig]

Re: Weight of a '88 4 cyl Mercruiser with I think a alpha 1

Aprox. 850 lbs on the motor and 85 lbs on the drive.

 

[River_Lizard]

Re: Weight of a '88 4 cyl Mercruiser with I think a alpha 1

Thanks Tazrig.
Anything to know about them good or bad? Got a chance to purchase a package deal boat/trailer/and said running 2.5 setup for under 700.00 I'm buying it for the trailer and the running gear and most likely scrap the boat.
Are they good running engines?

 

[Bondo]

Re: Weight of a '88 4 cyl Mercruiser with I think a alpha 1

Ayuh,... So what's yer ultimate goal,..?? you keep askin' 'bout Weight,..??

The 2.5l is like all the other Chevy motors,...

If ya treat it Right, it'll run darn near Forever...

 

[River_Lizard]

Re: Weight of a '88 4 cyl Mercruiser with I think a alpha 1

I dread to even post this response but Bond-o asked me to post it here instead of the PM I sent him........ouch!!

Here goes..........

I want to switch the Crestliner from an OB to a I/O that's in my Sig. I know I know.... maximum capacity levels of drive for boat. Hence the request for weights. I know I'd have to raise the transom level and was figuring to raise it 4 additional inches and including the cap area at the rear of the boat for the length of the motor housing.
Factory OB rating is:
85 HP
6 persons or 150 lbs each.
1535 max load.

I figure if I change the person level to only 4 persons or 600 lbs max. I would have 935 lbs to work with for fuel and drive. That would NOT be adding the increase in the transom level or the additional height of the rear section of the boat. I know they (CG) figure a line of plane on the side of the boat and this is my major concern on calculating max load for floatation. I've looked at a few drawings but I'm not getting how they determine the line of plane and then use that with the width, beam, length, etc...of the boat to get that figure for the plate.
I have a chance to purchase a complete boat with a GM 2.5L w/alpha1 drive and trailer for under $700.00 . The trailer looks like it would work for the base of a custom trailer I want to build for the Crestliner so that helps with the $$. The owner states that the engine runs great and the outdrive and is willing to put it on muffs for me.
Not sure there's anything I could do to a 2.5 to reduce the overall weight of it.....there's not much to them already.
I don't want the boat sitting like it's climbing a hill when it's just sitting in the water so my game plan was to move the 12 gallon fuel tank to the bow of the boat to help level off the balance and also to allow to add some additional foam to the rear of the boat.

Any suggestions????

OK Bond-o.....are you happy? :lol: As I turn three shades of red.....and shaking my head on why I even considered posting this here.

 

[Bondo]

Re: Weight of a '88 4 cyl Mercruiser with I think a alpha 1

I dread to even post this response but Bond-o asked me to post it here instead of the PM I sent him........ouch!!

Here goes..........

I want to switch the Crestliner from an OB to a I/O that's in my Sig. I know I know.... maximum capacity levels of drive for boat. Hence the request for weights. I know I'd have to raise the transom level and was figuring to raise it 4 additional inches and including the cap area at the rear of the boat for the length of the motor housing.
Factory OB rating is:
85 HP
6 persons or 150 lbs each.
1535 max load.

I figure if I change the person level to only 4 persons or 600 lbs max. I would have 935 lbs to work with for fuel and drive. That would NOT be adding the increase in the transom level or the additional height of the rear section of the boat. I know they (CG) figure a line of plane on the side of the boat and this is my major concern on calculating max load for floatation. I've looked at a few drawings but I'm not getting how they determine the line of plane and then use that with the width, beam, length, etc...of the boat to get that figure for the plate.
I have a chance to purchase a complete boat with a GM 2.5L w/alpha1 drive and trailer for under $700.00 . The trailer looks like it would work for the base of a custom trailer I want to build for the Crestliner so that helps with the $$. The owner states that the engine runs great and the outdrive and is willing to put it on muffs for me.
Not sure there's anything I could do to a 2.5 to reduce the overall weight of it.....there's not much to them already.
I don't want the boat sitting like it's climbing a hill when it's just sitting in the water so my game plan was to move the 12 gallon fuel tank to the bow of the boat to help level off the balance and also to allow to add some additional foam to the rear of the boat.

Any suggestions????

OK Bond-o.....are you happy? :lol: As I turn three shades of red.....and shaking my head on why I even considered posting this here.

Ayuh,.... Sure am,.. Thank you,... yer Not gonna like my answer though.....

In All Honesty,... take yer $700. 'n start searchin' for a boat ya Really want....

It looks like a Cool little boat in yer picture,... Don't ruin it... just Fix it, or move on, 'n sell it, as is....

Yer tryin' to create a Money pit,... That money is better spent on findin' the hull you really Want,...
if that's what ya want...

Most of those I've seen were goin' the other way,.... they all failed the owners/ builders expectations,...
I've look at a few little boats, thinkin' what yer thinkin', but no way in 'ell could it/ would it live up to what yer Hopin' for...

What's wrong with the motor on it, other than the Noise,..??

Oh,.... 'n just so's everybody knows the Whole story,....

Bond-o

I reason I'm asking is because I want to put a I/O in the Crestliner that's in my Sig. I know I'll have to extend the transom up which will give me a little more maximum pound capacity for the boat hull but my target weight is around 800 lbs. It sounds like the 4 cylinder is the only way I could go with an I/O.
The Crestliner needs a new transom and stringers so this would be the time to make the change if it's at all possible. I figured if I relocated the fuel tank to the bow of the boat it would help even the weight load overall. Figure a 12-14 gallon tank would be enough for a 4 cylinder. This would also allow me to put more foam in the rear of the boat also.
Extending the transom and making a raised deck above the engine would increase the measurements for determining drive weight for the boat...is this not correct? If it's determined that I need additional floatation, couldn't I add two extensions on either side of the outdrive as step-ups to would also increase the floatation of the boat?
I really want to change the drive system to an I/O vs OB for a couple of reasons, 1. fuel usesage 2. noise reduction This boat is more of a pleasure/sightseeing/water skiing for the wife and daughter. I'd really like to be able to talk while we're motoring places without having to yell over an OB motor.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Jeff

Yer welcome Jeff,....

 

[tazrig]

Re: Weight of a '88 4 cyl Mercruiser with I think a alpha 1

I dread to even post this response but Bond-o asked me to post it here instead of the PM I sent him........ouch!!

Here goes..........

I want to switch the Crestliner from an OB to a I/O that's in my Sig. I know I know.... maximum capacity levels of drive for boat. Hence the request for weights. I know I'd have to raise the transom level and was figuring to raise it 4 additional inches and including the cap area at the rear of the boat for the length of the motor housing.
Factory OB rating is:
85 HP
6 persons or 150 lbs each.
1535 max load.

I figure if I change the person level to only 4 persons or 600 lbs max. I would have 935 lbs to work with for fuel and drive. That would NOT be adding the increase in the transom level or the additional height of the rear section of the boat. I know they (CG) figure a line of plane on the side of the boat and this is my major concern on calculating max load for floatation. I've looked at a few drawings but I'm not getting how they determine the line of plane and then use that with the width, beam, length, etc...of the boat to get that figure for the plate.
I have a chance to purchase a complete boat with a GM 2.5L w/alpha1 drive and trailer for under $700.00 . The trailer looks like it would work for the base of a custom trailer I want to build for the Crestliner so that helps with the $$. The owner states that the engine runs great and the outdrive and is willing to put it on muffs for me.
Not sure there's anything I could do to a 2.5 to reduce the overall weight of it.....there's not much to them already.
I don't want the boat sitting like it's climbing a hill when it's just sitting in the water so my game plan was to move the 12 gallon fuel tank to the bow of the boat to help level off the balance and also to allow to add some additional foam to the rear of the boat.

Any suggestions????

OK Bond-o.....are you happy? :lol: As I turn three shades of red.....and shaking my head on why I even considered posting this here.

To answer you as gently as I can... I think it would be a VERY bad idea to try to do what you are thinking about. I am very familiar with MFG's as we owned one like this for years:



Your particular boat is simply not designed for an I/O. They have thick solid transoms but are made to have all the weight of the motor sitting directly over the transom pushing straight down on it. The floors on those boats are paper thin and in no way would support even close to the weight of and I/O engine. One or two good waves and you would probably rip through the floor and take a piece of the transom with you. It's not just the total weight capacity you have to worry about but how it is spread out. For example 1,500 pounds of people spread out on the boat's passenger compartment, no problem. If you took that same weight and put it all on a 2 foot square section of the bow, now you have a problem. Even if you had a structural engineer design a plan to beef up the stern, transom and flooring (with stringers and thicker glassing) to handle the additional weight, strain and torque that adding an I/O would give you, you would still have the problem of the stern sitting real low in the water and the bow sitting up too high because of how the weight was distributed. If you added weight to the bow to counter the weight in the stern you would be putting much added stress to the mid section of the boat that it was never designed to tolerate. Moving the foam around wouldn't help either. The foam is there so if the boat completely fills with water it won't sink. It doesn't help with flotation until it is under water. In some boat designs like in a Boston Whaler where the foam is sandwiched between two layers of fiberglass it also acts to ad strength and rigidity to the boat but that is not how MFG uses it. Basically, it all comes down to design. You have a great boat. It was just designed for an outboard not an I/O. All this being said. There's no reason to turn red for asking. That's how we all learn. Good luck with the trailer and enjoy your MFG! I miss mine. Many, many good years of memories with it.

 

[River_Lizard]

Re: Weight of a '88 4 cyl Mercruiser with I think a alpha 1

Dang you Bond-o........ :lol:

Taz, I understand the foam theory, currently the boat's foam system is designed so the bow would be bobbing at the surface if the boat got swamped. The rear would definitely go down because there's very little foam at all in the rear of this boat.

I know what would fix the issue with the noise and fuel issue.......spending about 5-8K for a new 4 stroke 80 hp

 

[Bondo]

Re: Weight of a '88 4 cyl Mercruiser with I think a alpha 1

Ayuh,... a Good used motor would be Way less than yer doin' the I/O thing....

 

[River_Lizard]

Re: Weight of a '88 4 cyl Mercruiser with I think a alpha 1

What's wrong with the motor on it, other than the Noise,..??

Other than it's an electric shift and it has water flow issues internally ....nothing. With the servo issues these motors have, I'd rather get something a little more reliable but also quieter too. With this boat I'd like to get away from the 2 cycle noise. The new 4 strokes that I've seen you don't even know they're running at idle and at 60 throttle they're super quiet.

 

[tazrig]

Re: Weight of a '88 4 cyl Mercruiser with I think a alpha 1

Other than it's an electric shift and it has water flow issues internally ....nothing. With the servo issues these motors have, I'd rather get something a little more reliable but also quieter too. With this boat I'd like to get away from the 2 cycle noise. The new 4 strokes that I've seen you don't even know they're running at idle and at 60 throttle they're super quiet.

The last engine we had on our 17 was a 1973 Evinrude 50 with the "selectronic" shifting also. Had some of the same problems you're describing as well. A new 4 stroke sounds like a great solution for you. Quiet and lots of low end grunt too.

 

[River_Lizard]

Re: Weight of a '88 4 cyl Mercruiser with I think a alpha 1

Mods......you can close this topic if you want.......after Bond-o and Taz popped my dream bubble...I consider the idea closed. :facepalm: