I don't think Jim was harsh, I think he was giving you a reality check. We still have 454s in our 41YF and I am satisfied with them. There is no way converting to diesel makes economic sense. If you do the arithmetic, you'll see that you'll never use your boat long enough to make up the difference in money. Sure, it hurts more at the gas pump than it does in monthly payments but that's false economy.
Jim's point, I think, is the only reason to convert is performance. Our boat will do 26KTS WOT - don't even ask about GPH! I think it would be nice to cruise at 20KTS with diesels. Nevertheless, Detroits are not the diesels to buy unless they are already in a boat you love. They are old two-stroke technology so the performance gain up from good gas engines is certainly not worth the money to convert. I think if your money tree has died your smartest choice would be to sell the boat and take long foreign vacations every year or if you're a little nuts like the rest of us middle class boat owners, keep your gas engines and slow down. On Apr 14, 7:44 am, ron hammill <[email protected]> wrote: > I converted from cummins 555s to yanmar 440hp in my 42 convertible, had to > buy new transmissions as the yanmars want to sit level and had to add 1000lbs > of lead to the stern so I could steer. both yanmars wieghed the same as 1 > cummins. great conversion, now a 20knt cruise boat with top end at 26knt. > ron edmonds wa > > > > > > > Date: Mon, 13 Apr 2009 23:15:08 -0700 > > Subject: [UnifliteWorld] Re: Diesel Conversion > > From: [email protected] > > To: [email protected] > > > Jim, I am sorry if I struck a nerve about the Detroit 353s. When I > > read your reply I thought that you were a bit harsh. Anyway I will try > > and respond to your questions/comments. > > > The first question was about getting a Yanmar, well first thing I must > > tell you is that I am in California and we are sort of having a water > > shortage and due to lack of proper watering, my money tree died and I > > now don't have the money for Yanmars!! > > > Second is about efficiency and fuel systems concerns. I realize that > > there are challenges with the fuel system when doing a conversion from > > gas to diesel and I know that I would have to actually get dirty but > > that is part of the deal. Do you think that the 318s are more > > efficient than the 353s? > > > I don't want to have $60,000.00 into a boat that will never be worth > > more than $30,000.00 I don't think that is very cost effective do you? > > I guess I would have to ask why you have not converted your Detroits > > over to Yanmars and dump a little weight from your boat and gain some > > efficiency?? > > > I have not purchased anything and am "considering" the conversion. I > > appreciate all of the helpful comments and suggestions so far from all > > of you that frequent this board. I think it is great that people are > > willing to share info, but keep in mind that not everybody knows > > everything (Jim) > > > Thansk Again > > > On Apr 13, 9:13 pm, [email protected] wrote: > > > When I read this is was thinking,what is this guy doing??? If you are > > > going to a diesel why bother thinking about these Detroits?? > > > For one,they are anything but fuel efficient and two if you are going to > > > a diesel why would you not get a Yanmar.(aluminum block) > > > Detroits of that age are two cycle. I must be missing something. > > > Even after thinking more about it consider these: A set of Racors are > > > about $1000 and plumbing is a little more involved. Coming off of the > > > engines you need return lines of which because Detroits return to the > > > fuel tank about 70% of what they pump. The return fuel is already of > > > heated so is best to send it through a cooler before the tank. > > > Some believe the warm fuel returned to the tank promotes algae growth if > > > tanks are not left full. > > > Other than what I have pointed out is..........What's not to like about > > > Detroits???? > > > Good Luck > > > Jim 48'YF > > > 6-71 Detroits > > > I am talking from experience > > > -------------- Original message from 31 SS <[email protected]>: > > > -------------- > > > > > Hello, I am considering converting my 71 33 SS from the standard 318s > > > > to Detroit 353s. I am told that the 353s will bolt up to my paragon > > > > transmissions. I wanted to know if anybody has converted one of these > > > > boats to small diesels and what other modifications need to be done. I > > > > think I would be fine with the 1 1/4 shafts as the engines are only > > > > like 108HP ea. > > > > > I have not bought the engines yet and I don't actually know what the > > > > guy wants for them but I bought a complete 318 standard rotation > > > > engine with transmission and V-drive with only 300 hours for $250.00 > > > > from him about 4 months ago so I assume I can get the diesels for a > > > > good price. They came out of an old cruzon running but most likely > > > > need to be overhauled. The parts are reasonable for these engines so I > > > > thought it may be a good way to go. > > > > > Any thoughts? > > > > > Thanks Ken- Hide quoted text - > > > > - Show quoted text - > > _________________________________________________________________ > Rediscover Hotmail®: Now available on your iPhone or > BlackBerryhttp://windowslive.com/RediscoverHotmail?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_HM_Redisco...- > Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "UnifliteWorld" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/UnifliteWorld?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
