Repowering Bristol 27

Hey everyone,

I have a Bristol 27 that currently has a outboard on the back due to the Perkins M20 having a cracked crank and seized pistons.

Due to the cost to rebuild the engine, I am looking at swaping to a running engine.

The outboard works, however it is old and incredibly unreliable. I believe one of the ignition coils is dying, and the car needs rebuilding(will be tackling these tasks this weekend). The Merc is a 15hp 2 stroke from early 90's.

I've been looking at alternative engines for both outboard and diesel. I can't afford to drop 8k on a new diesel(the girlfriend would kill me), so i've been looking at getting possibly a new 4stroke 15hp extra long shaft merc.

The new 2016 models have a 15hp with a 4 blade prop and 2.42:1 gear ratio. This thing i'd imagine would do damn well on the back of our boat and maintenance wouldn't be as bad as what i've been dealing with on our current outboard. The price for this though is $3.2k.

I've been looking at new and used diesels. Theres a guy i'm talking with currnetly who is pulling a diesel from an Ericson 32 that is being scrapped(the boat is). He is going to be digging into it to see the state of it and then give me a price(hoping to be just under 3k, around 2500).

In any event, I've come across Sole diesels. There's a dealer in Victoria Canada that has new ones running for $6300 CAD, about $4900 USD, however these engines no longer meet EPA standards so importing into the USA could be a hassel.

I'm trying to keep my budget at or below the $3k mark. That means if a diesel is used and needs a rebuild, the price needs to accommodate for the cost of rebuild.

Does anyone have any recommendations on what I should do? I really hate having a outboard on the back, however cost wise for a brand new engine it seems that this is the most logical way to go considering the engine comes with a 5 year manufacturer warranty.

 

Considering you are in Fiji, buying something that has a local dealer is probably your best option. Otherwise, warranties and service parts will be a hassle.

 

Whoops, my bad, my profile is incredibly outdated. I am living in Seattle WA these days.

Hoping to eventually to make it back to Fiji at some point in time.

 

Go to the local big trick reefer repair co.

A running Yanmar or Kubota should cost $300 or so.

Use your old tranny.