Unusual conversion project

Why would he go broke with a honda, they are very economical.

 

A lot of plywood boats that size and even smaller back in those days ran 4cyl gas inboards with shaft drive but they would likely have been lighter than a glass boat. Sure the engine box takes up space but at least the engine weight is out of the stern. I like the idea of the VW TDI also, ive been driving them for years and love the torque at low RPM, pretty easy to hot rod too with aftermarket chips and injector nozzle.

Steve.

 

A VW engine with a V-drive in a 20 ft hull? I don't see that happen, the engine is too high even when slanted 30 degrees. But combined with a Merc or other stern drive it would make a feasible project.
Any 4 cylinder VW engine from a Rabbit or Vanagon, naturally aspired or turbo charged can be used. Stay away from TDI engines unless you have the whole car at your disposal for donor parts.

 

I used to be afraid of the TDI as well until my son put a 1z engine into a VW Corrado, you deffinatly are better off to have the whole donor car but really you just need the parts you need, the ECU, engine harness, intercooler, fuel filter and probably a few other parts. I cant say enough good things about these engines and the reliability of the electronics, i drove a B4 passat for 5 years until i wrecked it, i currently drive a B5.5 TDI Passat wagon, but when i get around to it i will be swapping the 240000 mile drivetrain from the wrecked B4 into a really nice B4 vr6 wagon i bought, i really like the older B4. One of the nice things about the computerized engine is that you can do all kinds of things to up the power if you want fairly easily. We have vagcom on a laptop for diagnostics and changing parameters, (i leave that to my son) He has a different ECU with a performance chip and larger nozzles and his corrado is very powerful. I would love one of these engines in a boat.

Steve.