28 ft 2x v8 fix up cabin cruiser? 1200$?

You will need 300 - 400 HP to get a reasonable preformance envelop from that old gal. If you dramatically reduce the available power, you're fuel efficiency will go down, not up. If you want better efficiency, use a single engine of similar power. If you reduce the available HP to prevent her climbing over the "hump" she plow along, dragging her stern and will be difficult to control (steer).

 

I was thinking of using is for cruising around the 10 kt speed.
I'm not intent on having it plane, and doubt the diesel engines that would be required would come close to fitting in the engine bay.

I realise the flat rear end is less than ideal for low speeds, but beggars can't be choosers.

 

Again, if attempting turn this boat into a displacement cruiser, you're be very disappointed in it's abilities, particularly steering at these speeds. Trying to make a full plane mode hull form efficient at displacement speeds is frankly folly, regardless of the engines installed. Unless you install outdrives or outboards, steering will be poor at best at these speeds, for several reasons. The limitations of the hull form pretty much dictate how it must be used. It's like asking a canoe to operate in full plane mode. It just can't be done, at least not easily.

Can it be done, sure, most anything can, but can you or better yet do you have the resources to exploit to get it done (including hull shape changes). Can it be used as a displacement craft, yep, except you'll be constantly "chasing the steering from one side to the other, trying to keep it on course. Will it be efficient, nope, not in the very least, without substantial hull shape changes.

On a boat like this the hull shell and deck cap represent about 15% of the value of the total package. So, maybe the price is right, but multiply the purchase price by 185% to get an idea of the real costs involved, just getting it back to what it was, let alone what you want. This of course doesn't include modifications and upgrades to address your concerns and desires.

What size diesels have you in mind for this beast?

 

Well I was thinking of 4bt cummins engines.
I was hoping to hit over 10 kts at full output, and hoping to put around mostly doing 5-7 kts around 1300 rpm's.

How much of a bad thing is the hull shape? Will I use 20% more fuel than a non planing hull? 40% more?
I realise it's not ideal, but it is readily avalable.
It if won't work at all, maybe I should just go back to building one from scratch.

The rudders are directly behind the props, the steering should work, shouldn't it?

 

Why not take that $20k (though I doubt you can actually do this for that little) and just buy a boat that is actually what you want and go use it this summer.

Sure beats farting around with this thing for a couple years just to have something that doesn't really do what you want and you can't sell for anywhere near what you spent putting it together.

Boats like this are worth almost nothing in the current market, even if running, One that has been hacked up into an underpowered mutant will be worth even less.

Tons of boats for sale cheap right now, and shipping boats this size really isn't that big of a deal.

 

If you can point me in a good direction where I can find a 30 ish ft boat, for that money, that will cruise around 10 kts for little fuel, in canada, I'm deperate to look at it.

I was also looking at houseboat hulls, thinking I could build a cabin on it.

I can agree that it doesn't make sense to use a planing hull for a low speed diesel cruiser, but I'm at a loss for a better option right now.

 

Here you go, a quick yachtworld search pulls up a bunch. Remember to compare apples to apple, the boat you are looking at will likely be close to $30k ready to use, quite few boats in this list under $20k that will do what you want (and you can often haggle a lot). I didn't know what part of Canada you live in so you will have to refine the search a bit. Also YachtWorld only shows brokerage yachts, many of the really good deals are on craigslist or the yacht club bulliten board.

http://www.yachtworld.com/core/list...0&city=&rid=114&pbsint=&boatsAddedSelected=-1

 

I have always had a soft spot for for those 25 ft Albins, maybe not quite 10 knots, but would be very efficient and cheap to run. Plenty big for a family weekend.

 

What area are you in?

 

i think the boat is easily worth $1200, wish i could get those deals here. i would either pod it and fit an outboard or fit a single diesel stern drive. a good secondhand duoprop diesel is hard to beat and fairly easy to fit. i just found a pair of 2nd hand volvo aq130 diesels for the man who bought my boat, he has fitted 1 and is getting 15 knots on a fraction of the fuel it used to use.

 

the reason i like outboards and stern drives is the fact that you fit the complete drive line in 1 go, no looking for the correct ratios, making mounts and adaptors and the myriad other little bits and pieces when converting inboards.

 

Boats are much more expensive in Australia than the States and Canada right now, lots of Australians coming up to the states to buy cruising boats to sail through the pacific and then sell when they get home.

 

Manitoba.

Lot's of 14 ft boats, not many larger boats.

Theres a few, but not near as many as the smaller ones.

 

I can see how that could be a lot easier.

In my case, since I'm wanting diesel, I *think* it should be just fine to find something with a similar TQ curve.

I'm guessing the 327's are probably 220 hp, and 200 ft lbs of TQ?

Even if I find a 100 HP diesel with 200 ft lbs of TQ, I'd imagine it will work great, delivering the same power, but limited on RPM's, thus reducing maximum power.

 

Would it not be a very smart idea to have 2 engines?

If I only had one engine, I'd want at least a tiny outboard just for emergencies.