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6.5 Diesel In A Boat?

DZZ71

"Living The 6.5 Dream"
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Location
Alberta,Canada
Im not sure if im posting in the right place but i couldn't really find a proper area. I got a boat from my grand parents over the holidays. It had been sitting in the shop since 1998 and they told me to take it out :) so i got it for a dollar. I think its a 1978 it has an inboard engine (inline 6) They said it ran when they put it away just never really had the time to use it since then. My question is would it be worth puttin in a 6.5? i have lots of these engines, blocks, parts ect kicking around. Or would it be to much of a head ake swapping props and what not. I haven't got a chance to pull it in the shop yet for a closer look. Just got home yesterday after pulling it for 12 hours from saskatchewan to alberta. If anyone has any experience with this please chime in. Thanks
 
There are a few boats out there running the 6.5. http://www.peninsulardiesel.com/WP-PENTEST/ even makes a marine version. were it me I'd get the inline 6 checked out and rebuilt in necessary. Going to the 6.5 will require a new bell housing at a minimum. Not to mention possibly a larger heat exchanger. Throw in the fact that marine engines are designed to have minimal sparks being in enclosed areas. You don't want a fire on a boat. You may also need to put a new marine alternator in there. Problem with marine parts is they tend to be more expensive once you add the word marine to the part you need. IE, marine fuel pump or marine alternator or marine exhaust manifolds.

here is more reading stuff http://www.peninsulardiesel.com/WP-PENTEST/wp-content/uploads/Owners-Manual-11-4pdf.pdf
You could contact peninsular and ask about the marine add-ons and a deal for everything in one order. Then decide what would be better for yourself in the long run.
 
Stick with the 6, and get it going again. The 6.5 will work in a boat, but keep in mind how much weight you will be adding at the stern to run a 6.5 in it. Then figure in the cost of exhaust manifolds and risers are almost a $1K the last time I checked for water cooled aftermarket ones for a non turbo engine, and the cost of a good used BRAVO X series drive and gimble. You could EASILY spend $10K putting a non turbo 6.5 in a boat with mostly used parts, and still only be putting out 160-170HP.
 
Length?

Beam?

Hull construction?

Flat, Semi or deep V?

Weight?

Draft?

Stern drive?

Power transition to prop if it's prop?

Trimmable?

Type and rating of current inline 6?

Lots of questions to ask and answer first.....
 
Close to what I had heard on Pawn Stars. "Bust out another Thousand."

or

"A boat is a hole in the driveway you throw money at."

A kid who worked for Heath went water skiing on Tahoe with a client that had a supercharged Marine 6.5 Never did hear how it went. Wonder if his arms stayed in the sockets?
 
Guess I'm a glutton for holes in the water (for you WarWagon):

1325119414.jpg


However, I will point out that each one of my boats was bought used and basically near their floor value. From left to right: 1) '78 Ranger 198 with Yamaha F115 fours stroke, 2) Blackman 20 center console with Volvo AQAD 31A Diesel and DP 290 drive, 3) Conch 27 console cabin with Volvo KAD 44 Diesel and DP 290E drive.

Though I don't have the Blackman 20 listed for sale, it's such a rare boat and even rarer with diesel, I've had several people contact me to buy it once they found out I had bought the Conch 27. Today a fellow Dana Angling Club member came to look at it and definitely wants it. I bought it for $14K back in '96. Put 1800 hours on top of the existing 700 hours. Learned my turbo diesel maintenance from this baby. Sold the original pos trailer out from under it and had a custom Baja proven trailer built for it. Added the T-top and electronics (Furuno GPS/Chartplotter, Furuno Radar, vhf and the secret grey radio), lean post built around a 2 scoop tank, etc. I probably have $23K into it not counting maintenance. I'll let it go for $14K to $16K.

The Ranger 198 I bought for $2500. Sold the Mercury 150 premix two stroke off it for $1500 and added the Yammie 4 stroke bough new from a contest winner for $6000. It's my freshwater ride.

Purchased the Conch 27 this year for $31.5K. The Volvo KAD 44 and drive have 520 original hours on them. Wanted a bigger boat because my wife's back is deteriorating from stenosis and now a slipped vertebrae. She could not handle the standing romm only ride of the Blackman 20.

My problem now is that my career has pushed me into jobs that require tons of travel and I've grown used to it. Between two homes and three boats, I'm really stretched thin with time. This last year I had the Blackman out twice, Conch once, and the Ranger twice. Years past I'd range from 20 to 50 days on the water with the Blackman and the Ranger. Then fuel prices soared, the economy tanked, etc. Just life changes.
 
I will get some pics this weekend. Havent had much time to look at it since I went back contracting. Always on the road now.
 
has anyone ever owned or ran one of these old girls?

I'd see what the inline 6 needs rather than swap in a 6.5. Those bayliner bowrider style boats are not very forgiving to too much weight in the back.

Yours is trimmable, which will help with gettin on plane and planing with a heavy ass. I'd prefer not to have the weight in the back though.

Then there's the issue of mating the 6.5 to the stern drive...I think that looks like a gm based 6, but it's hard to tell from the pics.

Check your decks and supports for rot, common on old fiberglass boats left out uncovered...
 
That does look like a GM motor to me. In pic #2 look at the two piece lifter covers, the positioning of the distributor and fuel pump, typical of GM motors. Also look at pic #5, a closer pic of the same area. I'd say that it is the 250 cube, or one of the smaller motors based on the same block.

Look down by the distributor at the block. There is a long flat area where the distributor shaft goes into the block. This long flat spot has the block number stamped into it.

Don
 
That's a 250 GM straight 6 and what looks like a MERCRUISER type M outdrive. Most likely from the early 70's if I had to guess. You can retrofit a GM 292 into it as well, but I wouldn't reccomend it as that old outdrive won't appreciate it. Personally I would pull the 6 out and check it over real good and see what it needs. Going with a 6.5 in there will cost you at least $10K by the time you marinize the 6.5 and install a BRAVO outdrive to hold up to the torque. Not to mention the stringer and transom work to keep it from tearing teh boat in 2 under power. Also check the transom out as an old boat like that may be due for a transom. You don't want to spend $2K or so going through the engine, outdrive, and redoing the gimble just to have a bad transom let go on yeah and sink it.
 
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