bertram31.com

Hello Everyone.
I bought the boat "Ranger", a 1968 31 bertram about 6 months ago. The motors are old and starboard motor has really low oil pressure ( around 15 )
As much as I would love to convert the boat over to diesel, I'm not in a position to do that at this time...I've heard its about 75k when all said and done?
What you would recommend for new gas engines that would be a pretty simple install without having to change a bunch of other parts?
Looking for something that I can drop in , hook up to existing tranny's / shafts / props / fuel tank , ect.
The boat will mainly be used for day and over night trips to the channel islands , about 20 miles from our harbor. Any and all advice is greatly appreciated and I look forward to learning some new things from all you experts out there.
Looking to get this job done asap, does anyone recommend a good mechanic in southern calif that might be able to do the work? ( I live in ventura )

What motors are in there now?

Ryan

$75,000 depends on a lot. What diesels you eventually decide to use plus the unknown. Basically an older gas boat, you will find that once you are in there, you are basically rebuilding the back end. Oversized rudders, beefing up the strut pads, building a new rudder shelf, and then wiring. Up the budget about $25,000.

I am assuming the Ranger has an aluminum fuel tank, if not, and you are keeping gas, think about since Ethanol will be the death blow for both the tank which will then eventually kill the engines.

As John said what is in her now?

2001 Mercruiser 454V-8 gas engines .They develop 330hp @ 4000 Rpm's and are fresh
water cooled with raw water cooled exhausts through the trans.

Great motors. 454s can run a long time. What kind of shape are they in? Compression? Are you sure oil pressure is down? Don't trust your gauges. If oil pressure is down but the motor is still good, just fix that. If the motor is bad (compression down in all cylinders/ one cylinder or bad bearing/crank, whatever), and the accessories are good (carb, starter, alternator, etc) get the long block rebuilt. If you want to go all new, it'll add up quickly. Lots of choices

I have 454s replaced one of the blocks and bolted on all the newer replacement parts, carb, oil pan, alternator etc. I think the block was $3500 and the yard charged $1500 for the swap. So 5k and I have essentially a new motor. I will certainly do the same with the other side when the time comes..

Check out Michigan Motorz, they have everything from blocks to complete engine packages. I used them and they were great.

you can look for my post on new motors. I used 383's, all forged internals and no chains. cost me 11.5 ish for both. White Brothers.

454 is a pretty good base. I had one (FWC Crusader 350) with 3200 hours. Rebuilt it about 10 years ago and still going strong.