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Questions about desire to re power a 32 Sedan with outboards

Posted: Sat Jan 18, 2020 12:30 pm
by Aquaholic
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 :o

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.

Re: Questions about desire to re power a 32 Sedan with outboards

Posted: Mon Jan 20, 2020 8:24 pm
by TinLizzy
The total cost of such an endeavor would likely cost more than the entire boat. I'm not saying not to do it, just one of the many considerations you will need to address. A new 250 outboard is going to run you roughly $17-20k, Buying a bracket to handle that outboard is going to cost a few thousand I would guess, but I don't have any hard figures. Throw in the labor to have someone remove the main engines, install the engine bracket, and install the outboard with all new wiring, fuel lines, etc., not to mention that you will more than likely need hydraulic steering if the boat doesn't already have it, will likely run a few thousand dollars. Do you run the boat on plane, or more of a troller speed? A single outboard( even a 250 hp ) will likely be working fairly hard to keep the boat on plane, IMO. As with all things, I can envision this snowballing into a $30k operation, but I am a pessimist at heart. If you plan on keeping the boat for a long time and you think that the advantages surpass the disadvantages, go for it!

Re: Questions about desire to re power a 32 Sedan with outboards

Posted: Mon Jan 20, 2020 8:31 pm
by TinLizzy
Sorry, I didn't realize that the was another thread to this topic. I should have read through them all before replying on this one.

Re: Questions about desire to re power a 32 Sedan with outboards

Posted: Tue Jan 21, 2020 7:40 am
by Fastjeff
A single OB? at first blush I thought "that'll never work," but my 32 footer DID plane off easily on one engine (when it had the props that came with it that were may under pitched). Loosing all that weight (at least 1,800 to 2,000 pounds) while gaining only 500 or so, should allow full plane with the right prop. Off plane with a single OB would be great--lots of steering control for slipping and great gas mileage. I like it!

On the $$$ of the outboard(s), I often see used but decent motors of that size (250 hp.) for sale fairly cheap when the owners upgraded for more power, so you might get by for far less money than you'd think (certainly far less than rebuilding both inboards and possibly their transmissions). With one OB you can get away with simple cable steering (as do zillions of boats) and use the OB's remote controls with extended cables.

Hey; this is a really neat project! Wish I was nearer so I could get involved.

Jeff

PS: The transom will need to be extensively strengthen for the weight and force back there, but it's a fairly straight forward "blacksmithing" job since we're dealing with aluminum.

PSS: Take the above with a dose of caution, for I'm the same guy who wanted to build a catamaran by mounting two sailboats together with OBs powering each.

Re: Questions about desire to re power a 32 Sedan with outboards

Posted: Thu Jan 30, 2020 4:40 am
by Aquaholic
Thanks for all of the good input....
I've been offline for a couple of weeks so slow to reply, but thanks for the thoughts. My biggest challenge in accomplishing a re power like this is that the boat in question in unfortunately not at my home port so I would be either traveling a long ways and obviously committing a lot of time to it (which I do NOT have at this point on my life) OR locating and contracting with a reputable shop that could handle a project like this from start to finish. Either route poses significant challenges to me.
I'm actually going to start another topic/thread posing some more questions to the group along another line of thought. Maybe what i really want/need is another boat! lol. The way we travel a bigger boat with a full shower, walk around bed, diesels for range and safety might be the better answer??