Ballast Converted Steel Lifeboat

Pete,

For your first question; automotive diesel can be used, but look at some other threads about re-powering and you'd might make up your mind.
Second question; yes, to my opinion it's a good option. Make sure you keep it close to the keel, but with enough space all around to get ride of shells, use enough spacers to weld it to the hull and protect the end with a taper to protect for groundings.

Solved to rolling yet? Did you try the ballasting?

 

You are better off welding steel channel to the inside of the hull for the heat exchanger rather than putting it outside which is a poor option.

 

ballasting lifeboat

You might try some sand bags. Best to have it in plastic bags instead of paper. Building supply stores often sell sand in 55 lb plastic bags, commonly for play sand for children's sand boxes. I have a 28 foot lifeboat that I initially ballasted with about 2000 lbs of sand bags. Made a huge difference to the stability of the boat. See

www.geocities.com/geezerboat

After that was successfull, I saved space by removing the sand and installing 3000 lbs of scrap steel, which worked even better. To prevent corrosion inside the bilge, it's best to keep a dry bilge by installing a mechanical shaft seal, instead of the usual stuffing box.

Cheers,

Paul Browne
Geezer Boatworks