RELOCATING an inboard under the console? PLEASE HELP any ideas or input is welcome!

Hello guys, I own a 26' boat that had originally twin outboards, but i removed the for a single diesel with I/O lower unit. But, i just dont want to kill the fishing space in the rear of the boat with an engine cover do to the size of the engine. Instead, i would like to intall the engine under the huge center console the boat has and somehow install a driveshaft to the lower unit in the transom.

IS THIS POSSIBLE? installing a driveshaft from engine to outdrive in transom?

Has any of you ever done this or know of a boat in the web that has a similar setup? How would i go about this?

Thanks for any info on the subject!!!

 

In short, yes it is possible.
The main issue will be balance; in particular, trim. Your boat was designed and built to have half a tonne of engine hanging off behind the transom. Now that weight's gone, and you want to add a comparable weight around midships. You've just moved the centre of gravity WAY forward from where the designer intended. As a result the boat will trim bow-down at rest, probably quite a lot. Lord only knows what it might do on plane (hint, it'll run bow-down, will stuff into waves, might spin out, will probably not be very fast or stable).
At the very least you need to calculate where the boat's centre of gravity was originally, where it will be now, and how big the resulting trim problems will be. If you're not sure how, you need an NA. My advice would be to either stick with outboards or, if you must have diesel, put it at the transom where it won't screw up the boat's balance.

 

I thought of balance as the least of my problems. The same model boats come with huge 460 inboards. I only want to move it about 3 feet forward and i will put a big diving platform in the transom.

My big question is this: How do you connect the lower unit to the transmission on the engine about 3' apart? With a driveshaft and thats it? and has any of you guys seen this in a particular boat ?

Thanks for the info and headsup...