Warren Pateman passed away in June of 2006 after a long battle with cancer. He loved boating with a passion, and served on two Americas Cup Race committees, as well as doing a total restoration on a 38’ Express. Warren and I corresponded on numerous occasions (on subject matter ranging from club dynamics, real estate, politics, management, and of course boating too), and we collaborated on the article that appears here on the Forum, and in various other publications including the new Vintage Yachting magazine.
Warren had the passion (and the cash) to do whatever he wanted to do with his restoration project, so he installed a pair of new diesels. Many of us would like to do this, but most of us don’t want to spend the cash (or simply don’t have the cash to allocate in this direction). In Warren’s case, I don’t think he ever really thought about gas power because of the waters he would be navigating, and the fact that most of his running would be pretty demanding in open salt water. It was just
“a decision” he made. It falls within the
“because I want to” category, and it really had no economic reason. It was a functional requirement in his mind, and perhaps he just wanted diesels anyway. He could afford it, he made the decision, and he didn’t whine about it after the fact.
I prefer to see decisions made this way, rather than doing an exhaustive economic analysis. It doesn’t take much analysis to see diesel power won’t pay back economically. It’s sort of trying to justify a lease car without the business tax write-off.
I know a few people in the past who have repowered their boats, spending huge sums of money, losing a season or two of boating in the process, cobbling up their boat with a sawsall, and eventually ending up with a nice package in the end. In reality, if they had done a proper rebuild, they would be miles ahead financially and still have nearly the same thrill of boating they do with their new power. Repowering with bigger motors will allow the boat to go faster at top speed, but quite frankly, running a cruiser at top speed is sort of like racing motor homes. It’s fun, it doesn’t last long, and 99% of the time you wouldn’t really know if you had new motors or good rebuilds. Therefore, if the motors are worthy of a rebuild, I would default in that direction; if they are not worthy of a rebuild (broken), then I’d go with either replacement blocks or a full repower, and I would do so without guilt. It falls into the
“because I want to” category. Warren’s decision was based upon his location and the type of big water cruising he was planning on doing. I think he also wanted diesels! :-0
So guys, if you want to repower, or swap out gas for diesel, just do it! J It rarely (if ever) can be justified financially, and don’t even think about the cost of fuel making a contribution. If you have bigger motors with bigger power, you’ll be burning more fuel just because you can. I would generally default to a rebuild, because I know how comprehensive and well-done a good rebuild can be. There are several sources in the US that really specialize in doing this sort of thing right, too. For instance, a pair of motors coming back from Gessford or Drake, will be as good or better as they were when they were new, at a fraction of the cost of a rebuild, period. If the engine blocks were frozen or otherwise damaged, I would certainly consider a repower. If you want to go faster, just do it, but don’t try to justify it because most of us probably can’t even justify our boats (financially).
Warren was in Australia, and his boat had some old diesels. He made the decision to go with modern turbocharged diesel power. Here are some of his personal notes about the project.
“The heavy old GM 653s installed during the 80's had no place in the restoration plans so they come out and after much research and consideration a decision was made to re-power Bambi with a handed pair of Iveco 370HP diesel's with electronic common rail fuel injection and ZF1.45 to 1 gearboxes spinning 29 inch 4 bladed props.
Iveco engines were designed and produced by a consortium of Cummins, New Holland, and Fiat. Iveco was the only diesel in that power range available with electronic fuel injection (Bosch). They are made in Turin, Italy and are a new generation of engines designed to meet new emission requirements.
Calculations indicate a top speed around 30 knots with excellent consumption rates at a comfortable cruising speed of between 15 and 18 knots. At a very economical 1800 RPM we finished up with just over 1000 liters of fuel with the new tanks which is important because we plan to cruise up the west coast to Shark Bay (Monkey Mia) each winter and there are not a lot of fuelling ports along the way. Overall we gain a weight savings of over 400 Kg's over the old engines.
Got the bucks, eh? Well, may as well install a pair of Ivecos!???
This isn’t a financially justifiable endeavor, it’s a passion! Very well done too!
Splashdown day was December 3rd, 2004. It was a great relief to see that she floats. The celebration party followed the next day. The initial test run was a great success. The four bladed props were right on the money, both engines at 2800 RPM gave us 28.5 Knots on the GPS. She did a little under 18 Knots at 2000 RPM which is the most economical RPM for these engines. That’s with 500 liters of petrol and 150 liters of water and six guys on board. We found the exhaust back pressure to be a bit elevated so we had to open up the exhaust outlets aft of the mufflers. ”
Here is a great thread with over 100 photos, showing how Warren went about turning his trashed out 38 into an internationally recognized showpiece.
http://www.network54.com/Forum/503931/thread/1150735726/last-1150735726
Regards,
Paul