Questions about desire to re power a 32 Sedan with outboards
Posted: Sat Jan 18, 2020 12:30 pm
There is currently a post on the Marinette FB page regarding re powering M's with outboard/s. I have seen this topic before on both here and the FB page. I thought I would pose there here on the forum because I know that there are some on here that are not on FB and/or are more knowledgeable.
I am seriously interested in this idea but have many questions I'm hoping others with more experience/knowledge can help me with. I have considered the outboard option OFTEN; each time this topic reappears on here or the FB page.
I personally see many HUGE benefits to the outboard option for the way that my wife and I utilize our 1989 32 Sedan. It has brought us through over 5K miles of river and Gulf cruising over the past 4 years with the original twin 318's. Me, not being very mechanically inclined, have managed to learn the basics that i needed to keep them running. However, the advantages that MIGHT be addressed (fuel efficiency, noise, smells, less CO2 risk??, longer range, reliability, etc.) all sound VERY appealing to me. We put A LOT of miles and gas into our baby during the 4-5 week period that we are Looping and I feel like the benefits could be more than intriguing for us and the way that we utilize our boat. Plus, an added bonus for us is that we also have a 1973 single Express that we utilize a home in Ohio on the Muskingum and Ohio Rivers; If we re powered the 32 Sedan I could potentially utilize one of the newer (1989) 318's and have it rebuilt for eventual repower of our Express
So..... Some questions:
1) Has anyone actually refitted to outboards on a 32 Sedan? I have seen several who have done this on 28 footers, but not actually seen it on a 32.
2) If someone has done this on a 32, what motor/motors did you choose? I have debated between a larger single outboard (maybe 250hp) with the addition of bow and stern thrusters -vs- smaller dual outboards (somewhere between 60's - 100's).
3) Does anyone know of a marina/person/resource in the Florida/Georgia/Carolinas area who could handle accomplishing a project like this well/right? I, unfortunately don't have the experience/knowledge/time to accomplish this retro on my own. Even if I did, the boat I am talking about is currently stored on the hard in Southern Florida (Glades Boat Storage inland of Ft Myers) awaiting our return for leg 4 of our journeys this coming Spring/Summer.
Any recommendations would be appreciated and helpful.
I am seriously interested in this idea but have many questions I'm hoping others with more experience/knowledge can help me with. I have considered the outboard option OFTEN; each time this topic reappears on here or the FB page.
I personally see many HUGE benefits to the outboard option for the way that my wife and I utilize our 1989 32 Sedan. It has brought us through over 5K miles of river and Gulf cruising over the past 4 years with the original twin 318's. Me, not being very mechanically inclined, have managed to learn the basics that i needed to keep them running. However, the advantages that MIGHT be addressed (fuel efficiency, noise, smells, less CO2 risk??, longer range, reliability, etc.) all sound VERY appealing to me. We put A LOT of miles and gas into our baby during the 4-5 week period that we are Looping and I feel like the benefits could be more than intriguing for us and the way that we utilize our boat. Plus, an added bonus for us is that we also have a 1973 single Express that we utilize a home in Ohio on the Muskingum and Ohio Rivers; If we re powered the 32 Sedan I could potentially utilize one of the newer (1989) 318's and have it rebuilt for eventual repower of our Express
So..... Some questions:
1) Has anyone actually refitted to outboards on a 32 Sedan? I have seen several who have done this on 28 footers, but not actually seen it on a 32.
2) If someone has done this on a 32, what motor/motors did you choose? I have debated between a larger single outboard (maybe 250hp) with the addition of bow and stern thrusters -vs- smaller dual outboards (somewhere between 60's - 100's).
3) Does anyone know of a marina/person/resource in the Florida/Georgia/Carolinas area who could handle accomplishing a project like this well/right? I, unfortunately don't have the experience/knowledge/time to accomplish this retro on my own. Even if I did, the boat I am talking about is currently stored on the hard in Southern Florida (Glades Boat Storage inland of Ft Myers) awaiting our return for leg 4 of our journeys this coming Spring/Summer.
Any recommendations would be appreciated and helpful.