Did any of the larger Aquasports

[pigbike]

Did Aquasport ever build any of their larger boats with diesel engines?

[Capt. Bob]

Here's a guess. I have no idea how accurate NADA is but,

http://www.nadaguides.com/boats/1984/Aq ... -Equipment

[seabob4]

They probably would have if asked...and paid for.  In-line 6 diesels would have been a perfect fit for the 290, and really would have opened up the engine compartment (can't really call it an engine room) a lot.

These days?  A pair of Yanmar 340s would be sweet!!!

[pigbike]

Bob,
Back in the 60's and 70's there was the Ford Lehman diesels. I believe they came both 4 and 6 cyl. These were marine engines that would of been a good choice. I don't know if they still make them and may of stopped making them years ago.

[seabob4]

At first I was thinking a weight issue, Roy, but checking the weights of a Merc 350 MAG (300 HP) and a Yanmar 6LY In-line 6 (315 HP), the Yanmar, w/o tranny, comes in a 2 lbs. less than the Merc...

[Double Trouble]

There is a guy in the next marina from me that has an older wellcraft about the same as my 275 and it has twin diesels. Maybe they offered the same option in Aquasport.

[SaltH2OHokie]

Never seen one that wasn't a retrofit, but that certainly doesn't rule it out.

If someone would finance it, I'd retrofit mine  

[seabob4]

Never seen one that wasn't a retrofit, but that certainly doesn't rule it out.

If someone would finance it, I'd retrofit mine  

Therein lies the rub.  On a twin engine boat, new, there will be a $50K upcharge going to diesels over gas motors.  It's a hard sell to offer a boat with twin gas 8.2s at $210K, but the diesel version will be $260K.  $50K buys a lot of gas...

[wingtime]

Heck the diesel option on my pickup truck was 6K!

[gran398]

At first I was thinking a weight issue, Roy, but checking the weights of a Merc 350 MAG (300 HP) and a Yanmar 6LY In-line 6 (315 HP), the Yanmar, w/o tranny, comes in a 2 lbs. less than the Merc...

If a diesel 290 was offered from the factory...Bob most likely would have been in the loop. After all, that's when AS was in its "big boat" heyday.

[seabob4]

Nope Scotty, before my time.  Interestingly though, the WC 270 Coastal was offered as a single sterndrive as well.  7.4 or 8.2.  I was sitting on top of one adjusting the shift cable when my inspector decided to bump the motor...    

Volvo it was...

[pigbike]

At first I was thinking a weight issue, Roy, but checking the weights of a Merc 350 MAG (300 HP) and a Yanmar 6LY In-line 6 (315 HP), the Yanmar, w/o tranny, comes in a 2 lbs. less than the Merc...

The newer diesels are probably lighter then the older ones.  I remember when my father swapped out the two 427 Greymarine gassers out of his 50' liveaboard, and put in two 671 Detroits he told me they weighed twice as much as the gas engines. He in fact moved the fuel and water tanks to the stern of the boat to even out the weight. This was in the late 60's.

[Aswaff400]

hey bob, remember that link i posted a while back of the 290 in my dads marina with a pair of yanmars. that boat was pretty sweet

[Capt. Bob]

Culled from a popular Forum, for what it's worth. See post #9.

http://www.thehulltruth.com/boating-for ... s.html#top

[seabob4]

So it appears diesels WERE offered.  As I said earlier, most builders, given the financial incentive, will throw whatever make or type motors you want in there, given certain engineering, performance, and reliability parameters.

For instance, on the WC 33 Coastal, you could spec Merc, Volvo, or Crusaders on the gas side, Cats, Volvo Tam-Ds, Cummins, or Detroit on the diesel side.  Yanmar hadn't really made the breakthroughs into the marine world at that time.  The boat Aaron talks about obviously was a re-power, but the conversion isn't that difficult.  In-line 6s being longer than gas V-8s, the engine location needs to be moved so you get the correct down angle of the trannies.  Shafts probably will have to swapped as well, maybe even upped in size to handle the torque of the diesels.  Most fuel tanks on boats the size of the 290 will have unused ports which will service as the return lines for the diesels.

When I was at Stamas, we used to offer the 32 with an auxillary 150 gallon fuel tank located against the fwd engine room b/head.  Now with 3 diesel engines (the mains + the gennie), being able to be fed from either of the 3 tanks, and the returns being able to dump back into either of the 3 tanks, well, you should've seen the fuel manifold I had to put together for that beetch!