Marine Re-power with a Dmax

[LBZ]

A friend of mine is planning on re-powering his boat with a diesel. It is a Bayliner Classic 2859 which currently has a Chev 454 in it and he was looking at going with a single diesel engine to replace it. He was thinking of going with a Volvo Inline engine, but I think I can get a Dmax in it for much cheaper.

I know PPE sells some parts and Banks will sell you a complete built engine for a million dollars but what I am looking for and haven't found yet is parts for the cooling system. I need to find some info on how to go about plumbing in the cooling system and what I would require as far as cooler sizing to adequately cool it. The plan was for a closed cooling system for the engine which in turn is to be cooled with sea water via a water to water system.

Also a water to air intercooler would also be used for cooling the intake air which is simple enough to find and make work, but I need to know what would be better, stainless or aluminum as we would be also be using sea water for that as well.

Any info or help on this would be awesome. Thanks guys!

 

[LBZ]

Here is a pic of the boat. It weighs about 10 000lbs loaded up so a diesel would really help it get up out of the water and save tons of money on fuel. Last time out we burned $1400 worth of gas in 250miles!! And we used a kicker to troll with!

 

[coker6303]

You will also have to change the gear ratio to the prop since you will be turning half the rpms

sent telepathically via rooted ThunderBOLT

 

[blk smoke lb7]

I saw an article a long time ago where regie Fountain and yanmar where getting in bed together with putting a diesel in a large cruiser but they were having problems getting it moving with turbo lag and the drag on the prop to get it moving.They came up with shooting airbubbles down infront of the lower unit which in turn would let the prop cavitate and spin faster which would build rpm fast and get the boat up on plane.I was always thought that was pretty cool. please keep us updated if this turns into reallity

 

[blk smoke lb7]

I also would avoid sea water cooling as it eats everything up anything to do with sea water should be stainless for sure if you do a closed cooling system i would just used coolant then you wouldnt have to use stainless IMO

 

[LBZ]

Yes the plan was to regear as we would have to change the leg and drive out anyhow.

As far as cooling the air/water intercooler, only reason I want to use sea water is I don't know if there is enough room to run a second manifold to cool a closed system. I believe PPE had something built for the DOMN8ER boat that they powered with a Dmax so they may be able to hook me up with something as well. We are only looking for about 250-300hp max so we won't be working the engine quite as hard either so the lower boost press should help keep intake temps down.

Hopefully with EFI Live I should be able to play with timing and fuel to get the turbo to spool at low rpm and set it up to cruise around 2200 - 2400rpm if we can get the gearing right to get about 25 knots on step. This is the limiting factor when going with a Yanmar, Volvo or a Cummins in a re-power. Tuneability is much more limited - another plus for the Dmax! A cam may also help with this. A call to Socal Diesel might be needed for help.......

 

[blk smoke lb7]

250 to 300 h.p.? isnt a stock lb7 300? why not crank it up a bit for some spirited cruising? LOL So many little things can be done to give it a little more.But i do understand when it comes to boats its all about torqe and not h.p. I would think some strong valve springs and possibly roller rockers if he plans to run WOT for long periods and im sure a different cam will be in order as well

 

[Burn Down]

I can look into Cat marine cooling packages. I think something in a C7 marine might be about perfect for a D-max. How quick are you needing info?

 

[Noreaster]

http://www.marinedieselengineering.com/md/engines/features-vgt-engines/

 

[NemesisDP]

I had talked to dan @ ppe this last week about putting one in a nordic and he said the drive alone to handle the power was about 25,000 alone. It would be around 50,000 for them to install if you had a motor already.

 

[blk smoke lb7]

I had talked to dan @ ppe this last week about putting one in a nordic and he said the drive alone to handle the power was about 25,000 alone. It would be around 50,000 for them to install if you had a motor already.

F*** that Remove the 454 and install a 635 tigue 50g's will buy the motor and alot of gas

 

[ChevyDieselLLY]

crazy. i guess what they say is extra true when you add a dmax to a boat. A boat is nothing but a bottomless hole in which to throw one's money and there is nothing cheap when it comes to the dmax.

 

[LBZ]

Total swap is gonna cost about $50 - $60K going with a Volvo diesel and an upgraded leg and drive not including what is recovered after selling the 454 and the old leg/drive. I'm pretty confident with a Dmax I can get that total cost down to about $35 - $40K.

 

[LBZ]

http://www.marinedieselengineering.com/md/engines/features-vgt-engines/

Cool. Have you ever seen one of these or know of a dealer in the US/Canada? Looks like a Dmax to me. I wonder what they want for a fully dressed, wired and ready to drop in model?

 

[NemesisDP]

You might call Dan @ PPE and see what he has to say. That was just a rough guess with a few options.

 

[LBZ]

Cool. Have you ever seen one of these or know of a dealer in the US/Canada? Looks like a Dmax to me. I wonder what they want for a fully dressed, wired and ready to drop in model?

Actually I found quite a few dealers. Waiting to hear back on pricing.
It looks identical to a Dmax as far as specs go.

 

[LBZ]

http://www.marinedieselengineering.com/md/engines/features-vgt-engines/

Buddy, that link was AWESOME!! Thanks so much. I talked to my friend today and his son is a marine mechanic in BC and he had never heard of this type of swap. They figure it's going to work perfectly and we are just waiting to see if it will bolt up to a Bravo III drive and if so, he just saved $15 to $20 grand!!

The VGT350 is the one we are going to go with. It weighs the same as the 454, and has more power and torque than the Volvo he was looking at. ECM looks different though so I don't know if I can tune it or not. Likely not without putting a GM ECM in it.

Should be sweet if it all fits!

 

[ChevyDieselLLY]

why not the 500? a little more power never hurt :woott:

 

[LBZ]

Power and Torque move up higher in the RPM range than we want plus we can only put so much through a Bravo III drive.

Now if it was an inboard with a ZF6.............

 

[ChevyDieselLLY]

Power and Torque move up higher in the RPM range than we want plus we can only put so much through a Bravo III drive.

Now if it was an inboard with a ZF6.............

yea my father in law in real into boating. he has raced his personnel boat in a race or 2. but is never happy with the power. wish i could talk him into a dmax in his boat thing would be awesome.