Aaaaaaahh ! --- repower w/ an I/O or O/B ????
 

I am driving myself nuts ! So, I might as well drive you all a little nuts. For the life of me, I cannot decide on which power to go with - a 300HP, 5.7 litre i/o, or a Yam. 250 HP D.I. o/b on a bracket !!!

There are pros and cons to each ! Does anyone have a 23' Sceptre w/ a 250 on a bracket ? Let me know how she handles, fuel burn, w/ a full load does she get out of the hole well ? What speed/RPM does she cruise at ?

One day I lean to the i/o and then the next I am all for an outboard...

I can probably get into a new, non-current i/o for 11K w/ out harness, gauges, or prop.

The ob I have found is a left over Yamaha 250 HPDI @ 11K ( in the box w/ nothing else ).

The bracket issue seems like it's $$$ and almost a quasi-science to choose and install.

I need to get this decision made now so I can re-do the transom accordingly...

Your imput much appreciated...

Re: Aaaaaaahh ! --- repower w/ an I/O or O/B ????
 

I own a 1979 SeaVette that was originally powered with twin 200 hp Evinrudes, mounted on the transom. I had the transom replaced and mounted the O/B's 30" back on a custom bracket. Second smartest thing I ever did. First one was having a professional do the job.
You do not mention what the current powerplant is. I assume it is an I/O. As to your decision, there are pros and cons to both setups. The I/O engine is easy to work on, fuel efficient, and very reliable. If you currently have an I/O, it should be relatively easy to replace the existing components with new ones. The gas tank is designed for an I/O, and your center of gravity will remain the same. In other words- you will not be surprised the first time you take her out. Outdrives have come a long way and many of the problems that plauged them in the past have been corrected. However, they still sit in the water and are subject to all the problems of submersion i.e. corrosion. You do not mention which manufacturer you are looking at. I would recommend Volvo. I own a '69 Donzi with the original outdrive, it has never been rebuilt and I am pushing 300 hp through it. Not one problem ever. I would never own another brand of outdrive.
The outboard is also a good choice. Moving the outboard back 25 to 30 inches will increase the responsiveness to trimming a great deal. Mine was like night and day. Outboards have also come a long way. They are relatively fuel efficient, reliable, and you can tilt it fully out of the water. The downside is that they are very expensive to work on. If you are converting from an I/O, your gas tank might not be large enough to give you the cruising range you would like. Your center of gravity might change also so you may be riding lower in the bow than you used to, no matter how much you try to trim. It may sound trivial, but your towing characteristics will change also. Pushing the motor back that far will give you a lighter tongue weight, requiring adjustments to your trailer. Mine required moving the axles back.
My GPS shows my boat to run at 56 MPH, at 5400 RPM, and I chew about 40 GPH WOT. I have a 126 Gal gas tank.
My recommendation is to stick with what you have. If you have an O/B, you would be wise to redo the transom and add a bracket. Make sure the bracket adds flotation as well. Get the longshaft version of the motor!!
I apologize for the length of this response but it seems you are dumping a lot of money and effort into this project and you want the outcome to meet your expectations. There is no one right answer, you must consider all the factors that are involved. Time and money are the biggest. If you wish to discuss this more I would be happy to. My e-mail is tunsmoor@comcast.net. Good luck!

Re: Aaaaaaahh ! --- repower w/ an I/O or O/B ????
 

Alb1111, go with OB/bracket. It will give you ton's more room and storage. And depending on which bracket you go with your boat should sit higher in the water.
It's a little bit of work reconfiging the transom and motor box, but I think in the long run you'll be better off.

Did you put a new transom in yet?

Re: Aaaaaaahh ! --- repower w/ an I/O or O/B ????
 

Hey guys thx for your responses. The boat presently has (2) i/o's - a configuration I do not want. I have not done the transom yet ( still tyring to get rid of the (2) 4 cyl i/o's in there). I have a guy who wants them, but it's taking time to actually get him there to remove them so I can get into the transon area...

I need to make a decision on this motor thing because the transom rebuild is entirely diferent for the two options. I would go w/ an outboard if I knew that the fuel consumption was comparable to the i/o, and if the overall cost was within $3000 of an i/o... I feel that a sinlge o/b would always be straining to move this heavy hull - running at high RPM's. What do you think ?

A bracket is approx $2000, right ? A motor I can get for about 11-12K. Controls, prop, gauges, oil reservoir etc. approx another $1500-2K... It starts to add up - FAST ! I would like to even just see a 23' Tsunami w/ the bracket I have never seen it...

The only things I do not like about the i/o is the outdrives have always seemed like a weak link; always in the water/electrolysis etc.. Motors are loud. They take up cockpit space. The good things are that you can work on it. They are fuel efficient. And the up-front cost seems less...

Hmmmm...

Re: Aaaaaaahh ! --- repower w/ an I/O or O/B ????
 

Alb1111, mine is/was twin i/o as well. I went with a Seamark bracket which is more that 2k, I think it's worth it. I am just about finished with the transom at this point.

Re: Aaaaaaahh ! --- repower w/ an I/O or O/B ????
 

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">A single OB would not be straining to move your boat. With 144 gallons of fuel and 4 guys on board, our Sceptre moves along quite well with the old '89 Rude 225. Cruise is 22 knots at 4000 or 24 knots at 4500, WOT is 32 knots at 5500 turning a 15 X 17 SS 3-blade wheel. With a brand new 225-250 OB (2- or 4-stroke) on your rig, you'd get even better cruise/WOT figures than that. Yeah, a V-6 OB runs at higher RPM than a V-8 inboard, but the OB is not straining in the least bit.

Re: Aaaaaaahh ! --- repower w/ an I/O or O/B ????
 

Chris,

What motor you going w/ ? And, how much does a Hermco bracket go for - dual or single ? How tough is /was the transom to do ? How did you support the transom for the outboard bracket ? Have you ever seen a Sceptre done this way ? Did you re-floor the floor where the i/o motor box was ? Are you doing the work yourself ?

Chris, where you been ??? You are the first guy I know who has done the project I'm going to be doing... I would appreciate any and all info you can provide...

Alan

Re: Aaaaaaahh ! --- repower w/ an I/O or O/B ????
 

That's way too many questions, I'll email you my phone number.

Re: Aaaaaaahh ! --- repower w/ an I/O or O/B ????
 

Going the outboard way you will be really close if not over the $3,000.00 mark. We do both kinds of installs and if you walked in we would say go the I/O route. It is much cheaper going that way. I would choose MerCruiser over the Volvo Penta for 2 reasons. First is price and the Second is MerCruiser is using the triple nickle system which is much ahead of the MEFI system that volvo is still using. I can not see the Mercruiser 5.7MPI Horizion with a Bravo 1 drive cost you more then 13,000. with the controls, gauges, harness, and steering system. If you want I can price you a MerCruiser package vrs a 250 Evinrude Di package with a Armstrong bracket.

Re: Aaaaaaahh ! --- repower w/ an I/O or O/B ????
 

Joe, you'll redo an i/o transom to o/b with a bracket for 3k??

I'd like to see that.

[ May 14, 2003, 08:56 PM: Message edited by: Finster ]

Re: Aaaaaaahh ! --- repower w/ an I/O or O/B ????
 

Joe,

I had actually sent you an email a week ago w/ some direct questions. Here's most of whatI sent:

--- Joe,

You had given me some advice recently w/ regard to my '75, 23' Seacraft Tsunami. I was hoping I could pick your brain a bit more. I have located, via a friend of a friend in the marine industry, a left-over Mercruiser Horizon, 5.7 litre 300HP Mercruiser w/ my choice of either Bravo II or III. ) I'd rather the Bravo II ). The motor would come w/ trim pump, transom plate, power assist and gasket kit - ( no gauges, harness, controls or prop ). I can purchase for 10.5K - add $500 for delivery. No tax because it will be biz to biz.

My question/concern: This motor although new, comes w/ no warranty. The phrase is, " non-current " and therefore no warranty comes w/ it.

Is this a concern ? Does this sound like a good price ?

Also, I am thinking if the Bravo 2 drive over the Bravo 1 drive for bullet-proof -overkill. A friend has one on a 23 Chris Craft and loves it. You opinion here is appreciated. I've heard that the BR 2 is a more obsecure drive and usually used on bigger boats or even barges. Is there a negative to the BR2 ?

Lastly, should I even consider a Mercruiser 454 ? Is this overkill and a lot more $ ?

Thx Joe. I appreciate your advice. ---

Re: Aaaaaaahh ! --- repower w/ an I/O or O/B ????
 

Joe,

I'm a little confused w/ the $3000 number. I am re-doing whatever glass work needs to be done my self ( via a friend looking over my shoulder who is in the 'glass biz' ).

I would appreciate a package price of the options you mentioned, if you do not mind. It would give me a baseline. You a strong beleiver of OMC over Yamaha ? And Armstrong over any other bracket.

You know what's so difficult is that you get sooo much info and so many strong, different opinions on every facet of a project that for someone w/ a limited background of info in this area (ME!) - it's tough to make an educated decision.

I have read and re-read every thread that pertains to what I'm doing - it seems that an I/O on a bracket is the way to go [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

That's not a typo by the way - it was 'a funny'...

And, I truly feel absolutely LUCKY to have all this wealth of info...

- Alan

Re: Aaaaaaahh ! --- repower w/ an I/O or O/B ????
 

Finster, We have no problem doing a I/O transome and making it into a bracket boat using a Armstrong bracket for $3000.00. Alen I will get back to you with prices I have been under the weather these past few weeks. I have been in and out of the shop these past 2 weeks. This is the worst time of the year to get sick for anyone in the boating industry.

Re: Aaaaaaahh ! --- repower w/ an I/O or O/B ????
 

Thats cool. [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] 3k sounds like a great deal for the transom alone without a bracket.

I'm looking for someone to shoot mine with a 2 part poly, I'll do all the prep work. If your interested send me over some numbers.

Re: Aaaaaaahh ! --- repower w/ an I/O or O/B ????
 

Armstrong V6ssa30-ta bracket. V-6 outboards 30" set back 990.00. Evinrude 250 Di 14,000. All rigging to make the Evinrude work around 2000.00 with hyd. steering system. MerCruiser 350 MPI Horizon with bravo 2 drive 12,300. with a 3 year factory warry. All rigging to make work along with steering system around 1100.00. Finster give me a call at 856 785 9455 and I can give you the number of the place that does all our glass work. I know they will shoot it for ya with no problem.

Re: Aaaaaaahh ! --- repower w/ an I/O or O/B ????
 

Joe,

First - I hope you feel better. It could be worse - the weather could be good, the fish biting AND your sick.

Anyway, thx or the info. Do the bracket-mounted o/b's have to have a 30" shaft ? You have had good success and recommend the Armstrong bracket ? And lastly, what is the differnce w/ a "non-current" motor vs a new ?

Thx Joe...

- Alan

Re: Aaaaaaahh ! --- repower w/ an I/O or O/B ????
 

We have been using Armstrong brackets since 1987 and have never had a problem with one. You will use a 25" engine. As for non current engines it depends on the year of them. MerCruiser will give a warry. until the engine hits I believe its 5 years old. Once a dealer has it for more than 5 years then its sold as is. If they say no warry. then its a older then 5 current model years. There is a big difference between 5 years on these engines. Spend the little extra and go with a current model. Or one that is 1 or 2 years is ok also.

Re: Aaaaaaahh ! --- repower w/ an I/O or O/B ????
 

Joe, thanks for the tip. [img]images/icons/cool.gif[/img] Talked with Jim today and it sounds like it will work out fine.
Too bad I'm not ready to shoot now.

Re: Aaaaaaahh ! --- repower w/ an I/O or O/B ????
 

Joe,

Thx for all that info. I had no idea that a non-current engine could be (5) yrs old !!! I know the engine priced out for me came w/ NO warranty... I will definitely check that out. As for the Armstrong bracket: if I go w/ an outboard, based on your input/expertise, I would go w/ the Armstrong because I don't need a 'porsche' of brackets, just the trusty old ' Chevy' will do... Thanks again !!! I'm still torn 50/50 about which power option to go with, but I have a hell of a lot more info to help me decide !!!

- Alan

We have been using Armstrong brackets since 1987 and have never had a problem with one. You will use a 25" engine. As for non current engines it depends on the year of them. MerCruiser will give a warry. until the engine hits I believe its 5 years old. Once a dealer has it for more than 5 years then its sold as is. If they say no warry. then its a older then 5 current model years. There is a big difference between 5 years on these engines. Spend the little extra and go with a current model. Or one that is 1 or 2 years is ok also.