RCE wrote:
"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 16 May 2006 05:23:37 -0400, "RCE" wrote:

Bob Smith of American Diesel quoted around $12,000 per engine. That was a
couple of years ago, so the price may have gone up a bit since. He is a
good source for any parts, etc. for the original Lehman's.

Was that for the engine alone, or engine + labor?


Engine alone, "bobtail" with all new bolt-ons. I have no clue what a yard
would charge for installation, but I suspect something in the order of 4k-5k
or so, assuming 40-50 labor hours and expendable materials.

RCE


The engine, the gearbox, and the labor ran me in the general
neighborhood of $20k when I replaced the Perkins diesel in my boat. I
also had a custom fuel manifold and a couple of other improvements
included at that price. The new engine was about $10,500 (135 HP NA).
That was a few years ago, and I typically get a pretty aggressive
discount on things. There will be some slight savings on labor when
doing twins- but not really all that much. Once the initial set up is
done, you still have to pull two engines, reinstall two engines, and
set everything back up. I'd sure consider 8 new engine mounts an
essential part of the process.

One reason to consider repowering almost right away: It may be possible
with a little poking around to find a couple of naturally aspirated
engines. Most engine companies are being forced to turbo charge
everything in order to meet clean air standards. For example, I
recently learned that there are only a few 135 HP Perkins/Sabre 354 cid
in-line six's like mine remaining in inventory anywhere. The new
version of the 135 HP Perkins is a turbo charged four cylinder. I don't
have a problem with a turbo in marine applications, but on a
displacement boat all you're going to gain from a turbo is the whine.
Even on my semi displacement hull there was no decrease in performance
when dropping from the 165 HP turbo version to the 135 NA.