Marinizing VW turbodiesel engines

[tuco35]

very interesting tread .. I was just wondering if you can help me I have a bayliner with a 3.0 L mercruiser engine on an alpa 1 gen 2 stern drive the engine is on it last legs and I was thinking of installing a vw /audi 1.9 tdi diesel engine .. now here is the question what will i need to do to marinize the car engine and what can i use from the car engine and the mercruiser as i'm on a budget and any suggestion as where to get parts???

[CDK]

Assuming you have access to an engine with a (partial) wiring harness, immobilizer, key lock, the control unit and wiring diagram, you need a water cooled exhaust manifold, a bell housing, raw water pump and lots of coolant hoses.

The manifold and probably also the bell housing are available from Lancing Marine.

You also need access to a machine shop and/or a skilled friend because you have to convert the engine coupler from the mercruiser engine so it fits the VW flywheel.
And you have to make your own engine front support or adapt that from the mercruiser as well.
If your budget is really tight you can make the whole bell housing yourself.

[pistnbroke]

CDK Perhaps I missed the post but are you making any progress with the tunnel hull and the two 1.9s ..now its summer in the med is it another period of experimentation?

[Boston]

pretty impressive stuff there C
I really like the adapter plate

[CDK]

Originally Posted by pistnbroke

CDK Perhaps I missed the post but are you making any progress with the tunnel hull and the two 1.9s ..now its summer in the med is it another period of experimentation?

Not really pistnbroke. This winter I built a dedicated trailer which will make hauling the boat out a more straight forward operation (http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/ope...=how+long+does).
I replaced the makeshift steel plate between the tunnels with a fiberglass bridge so no air can be sucked in anymore, replaced some badly corroded ball bearings on the rudder shafts with nylon bushings and improved the construction securing the rudders to the shafts.

Then I sanded the hull and applied two coats of blue "hard matrix" antifouling from an Italian company called Veneziani because I've seen in the marina that it really seems to live up to its promise to keep the barnacles away for several years.

What still remains to be done is to lift the port engine and have it overhauled, but as you remarked summer is approaching so that operation has to be postponed until the fall.

[Frosty]

Originally Posted by CDK

If your budget is really tight you can make the whole bell housing yourself.

Well now you have my attention .How do you do that then.

[CDK]

You're not on a tight budget Frosty!

[mytyemail]

Lux-wales,

Love the vid... What jet drive and impeller are you using? You do not need a transmission? RPMs are OK? Sorry for so many Questions... New to this boat design stuff Looking to build something similar.

CDK Thanks for your info too! Very helpful. Hope to learn more and ask better questions soon

Originally Posted by Lux_wales

Hi CDK,

I currently run a 1.9 td in a jet boat, It was an experiment and no care was taken in the installation (ripped out thermostat raw water cooled). Had I known It would work as well I may have tried harder.

Im am currently planning on making a plate similar to yours, the one for the gearbox. I have no gearbox as I dont need one but want to make a plate for the engine mountings. My question Is do you have drawings of the fly wheel and hole dimensions/spacings. As I could then CAD and cut them correctly?

Great Job by the way.

If you want a laugh check out my diesel jet boat (15' hamilton single stage jet.) http://youtube.com/watch?v=OnjlnEBtqv4

All the best look forward to your reply.

[Frosty]

The trick of marinizing a motor vehicle engine is in the choice of engine.

50% of the problems can be avoided by choosing the right one.

[pistnbroke]

Same goes for Women Frosty ...