By Keith F.
I repowered my SJ28 from the OMC saildrive to a Volvo
saildrive. I had to - my OMC lower unit corroded away in FRESH water. Did
research and found out that a lot of OMC products that vintage were cast
using punky alloys. As you probably know, many pa rts for the OMC are no
longer available (mostly lower end parts, motor parts are mostly
available). Too bad, I was not unhappy with the OMC.
I am very capable mechanically and am
comfortable doing glass/epoxy work. I did not have any major problems
doing the conversion, but it was a lot of work. I ruled out converting to
a conventional stern drive because there were simply too many big
chalenges. You will have to figure out a structurally adequate motor
mount, a structurally adequate prop strut and mounting, and then align
those and a drive shaft tube and stuffing box to within a few thousands of
an inch alignment tolerance. It i s do able, but it would have taken
me forever working on it evenings and weekends.
The Volvo saildrive conversion was
relatively simple.... Remove OMC, glass in large hole (new hole had to be
farther back), fit the prefabricated motor/drive mount to the contour of
the boat, glass it in, cut new hole, seal it properly, convert fuel
system, drop Volvo components in place. That is the short version. There
were lots of challenges, such as getting the 340 LB diesel motor suspended
16 feet above the ground so that I could back the boat under it and lower
it in place, etc. I worked most evenings and all day every Saturday and
Sunday for 3 months. I am somewhat of a perfectionist, so much of it
probably could have been done in somewhat less time.
Regarding the desirability of a saildrive
vs. a conventional stern drive, there are pros and cons. Corrosion is
somewhat of an issue, but overblown in my opinion. Saildrives are very
popular in new boats in Europe and they have saltwater too. The key is to
use magnesium anodes instead of zinc, and monitor them properly.
Saildrives have no stuffing boxes to leak, no drive shafts to keep
aligned, and apparently offer less resistance through the water. If you
pay attention to new high performance boat s, t hey usually have
saildrives because they have less drag. I have a hard time understanding
how, but it is apparently true.
New diesel motors approach $7000, saildrive
unit approaches $4000. I priced diesel/saildrive units at Yanmar, Volvo,
Range (actually a Kubota). They were all in this price range new. I got
lucky and found a Volvo unit about 10 years old, but still in original
shipping crate and got it for $3000.
I know this is a bit long winded, but
thought I would share my thoughts and experience. My recommendation would
be to run the OMC for as long as you can, but keep an eye out for a
repowering solution you can handle. It will eventually have to be done . I
will be happy to share my experiences in more detail if anyone has an
interest. I have a few photos of the project at http://www.keithford.net/boatstuff/repower/repower.htm. I have other photos not posted.
Contact me if you want more. Good luck .
BTW, diesel fumes are not THAT much better to breathe than gasoline fumes.
