I just read a post on one of the Catalina 30 forums about an electric drive conversion. Owner installed (no labor), $26K.
Change to electric drive
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whaaa???
I almost um..well, I wasn't sure when I saw a post from Neil and "change to electric drive" - but glad it is just a report.
More than probably the boat's value in the conversion and also most likely LOTS less range than even the Atomic 4 which is usually less than diesel?
Have fun with that.-Shawn
"Holiday" - '89 Alura 35 #109
"Twice Around" - '77 C-30, #511 with original A-4 & MMI manifold - SOLD! (no longer a two boat owner!!)
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Originally posted by sastanley View PostI almost um..well, I wasn't sure when I saw a post from Neil and "change to electric drive"Neil
1977 Catalina 30
San Pedro, California
prior boats 1987 Westsail 32, 1970 Catalina 22
Had my hands in a few others
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Originally posted by ndutton View PostNope, nein, nyet, not me. In fact, my interest goes the opposite direction. Big Block Chevy, 9 MPG on premium gas only.
My interests apparently have too. By my calculations, we are getting about 0.75 MPG in the powerboat, provided I don't throttle up enough for the secondaries in the carbs to open up. Small block Chevys, but they don't need premium gas. I am thinking about an EFI upgrade...one of the drawbacks had been the lack of USCG approval for high pressure fuel delivery systems required by those systems, but I am starting to find a couple on the market. A few thousand $$ per motor for that setup. Maybe I will just keep a spare carb on hand for now.-Shawn
"Holiday" - '89 Alura 35 #109
"Twice Around" - '77 C-30, #511 with original A-4 & MMI manifold - SOLD! (no longer a two boat owner!!)
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Originally posted by sastanley View PostWow nice!
My interests apparently have too. By my calculations, we are getting about 0.75 MPG in the powerboat, provided I don't throttle up enough for the secondaries in the carbs to open up. Small block Chevys, but they don't need premium gas. I am thinking about an EFI upgrade...one of the drawbacks had been the lack of USCG approval for high pressure fuel delivery systems required by those systems, but I am starting to find a couple on the market. A few thousand $$ per motor for that setup. Maybe I will just keep a spare carb on hand for now.
FYI - A 737 in calm wind barely uses more fuel than that, maybe .66 MPG.Joe Della Barba
Coquina
C&C 35 MK I
Maryland USA
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We have a guy at our marina that took a perfectly running Yanmar 2gm from a C&C 35. He took an electric drive motor and it works very well, has lots of torque but can only be depended on for a relatively short period of time. On a club cruise summer of 22, he had to go into an alternate port because he would run out of power on a windless day. The others continued....to the 22 nm destination. That boat made it just over half way. I don't know what he has for battery storage, however, it comes on and off the dock nicely.Mo
"Odyssey"
1976 C&C 30 MKI
The pessimist complains about the wind.
The optimist expects it to change.
The realist adjusts the sails.
...Sir William Arthur Ward.
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Originally posted by joe_db View PostThere are plenty of fuel-injected V8 engines in boats. They got approved somehow.
FYI - A 737 in calm wind barely uses more fuel than that, maybe .66 MPG.
So far from my research, there are a couple of hurdles...the high pressure pump, and (not USCG related) installing the O2 sensor where it can sniff the exhaust without getting wet. It seems like there is a 20-25% fuel savings since they tend to jet carb'd engines a little rich, and an O2 sensor can adjust the mixture to run a bit leaner and save some fuel. obviously over time it pays off. Right now, we are putting about the same hours on the power boat, about 100 per year, and we are not always running at 3,200 RPM..we do lots of 5 KTS creek cruising, so it will take a long time to pay it back (or forward and also x2).
Thanks for that link, Joe.Last edited by sastanley; 10-26-2023, 11:50 PM.-Shawn
"Holiday" - '89 Alura 35 #109
"Twice Around" - '77 C-30, #511 with original A-4 & MMI manifold - SOLD! (no longer a two boat owner!!)
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Shawn, you could consider plain ole engine swapping. In the small boat market there are quite a few that upgrade for more power by going to the V-8s. Perhaps finding a couple of V-6 Mercruiser's with EI would work. The are in the 250~300 HP range and will bolt up just fine. a nice thing about GM engine interchangeability. The hard part would be the exhaust which is really no big deal. Another is swapping out your old 4bbl's for 2bbl's, as the secondary's are where most of the fuel is lost at low speeds due to poorly atomized "idle port fuel dribble" constantly. There are many larger 2bbl's that can easily support your HP.
If your not using the secondary's why have them.
Dave Neptune
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Dave, thanks... all good points. One of the things with the V-8s is exhaust clearance, needing to run "low rise" elbows due to height restrictions..I would think a modern V-6 EFI would have the same power as an older V-8 and also with a smaller physical block maybe solve the riser problem by creating more room in the engine bay. Lots of cool stuff to think about.
We did 100 nautical miles this weekend, and not once did I run the engines into 4BBL mode. If i have the specs right, these Crusaders are about 270 HP each. We cruised at 15.5-16 kts all weekend at 3,100 RPM. I do remember that the Chevy 4.3L V-6's are basically 350ci (5.7L) V-8s with two cylinders lopped off the end.
Going the "other way", when I was in between wives, I swapped a more powerful engine in my old project Honda Civic..The motor I put in it was a Japanese spec Si motor that was the biggest motor I could bolt in there without changing engine mounts, and went from a SOHC 92HP, to DOHC 130HP, also converting from essentially single point manifold injection, to multi-point fuel injection in each cylinder. That is my fall project...get that sucker running again.
Great weekend here on the Chesapeake. This was on the way home from St. Michaels back to Solomons at 14.5 kts with at least 1 to 1.5 knots of current against us. The ride north we had the current with us, and were doing almost 17.
Sorry to all the Atomic 4 faithful. I am enjoying the powerboat, but I do remain a sailor at heart.Last edited by sastanley; 10-29-2023, 09:58 PM.-Shawn
"Holiday" - '89 Alura 35 #109
"Twice Around" - '77 C-30, #511 with original A-4 & MMI manifold - SOLD! (no longer a two boat owner!!)
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