Is there drawing avaible for the engine mounts and shaft layout for my 1973, 36 foot SF? I want to look into what it would take to repower her with Crusader 8.1L. I see some of the other C.C. owners have made that switch.

I will check in the Manual and see if there is any such information. DO you have 427s now?

If so, I would recommend to look at tose closely before even considering repowering.

The 427s seem to last even when the APPEAR to be 'finished'

TRADITION's engines looked finished 15 years ago, and all they needed was a little adjusting and some elbow grease.


My 2 cents.

I have to agree with Reece to an extent, to be sure the mechanicals are really needing replacement prior to jumping into a repower. Ive seen people do this in the past, spend $40,000 in a heartbeat, end up with a good end result, but do so needlessly. One guy in particular, would be out there this next season without a care in the world except for a tiny bit of fuel consumption concern and the fact that he has old motors, but he would have $25,000 hard cold cash in the bank now if he had rebuilt a pair of perfectly good big blocks with plenty of iron left in them.

I realize there are two other factors here; one is the fact that motors DO wear out and they sometimes need to be replaced; two being the fact that sometimes because I want to is a perfectly acceptable reaction especially when one has a bad case of boatitis. I used to tell my Grandmother, that at her age because I want to was a perfectly good reason to do anything. With the amount of actual running time most of us do, "because I want to" does factor into things, and as I said, it happens a lot in boating especially when the captain has an advanced case of boatitis. So if you have the cash


Here is what my motors looked like when I bought the boat. I thought "oh heck, these will need to go", however, here I am now 15 years later and they ran just great last week end when I met FANDANGO on the water in the rain.


Here they are after a tune up and a little TLC


Here they were the day John Clemans photographed the boat, one photo just appeared last month in Motor Boating again (motor shot, oil article)




Photo below taken in March of 2006 by John Clemans, senior editor of Motor Boating Magazine, aboard a Hatteras photo boat.


Photo below taken November 30, 2008 by Reece Ewton, aboard FANDANGO.



So what LOOKED like a basket case, actually turned out to be a pair of motors that had a lot of life still in them. With the amount of real-time boating I actually can squeeze out of a 365-day year, these darn things will outlast me!


For anyone wanting to see what our boat looked like when we bought it, here it is...............warning.........not a pretty sight.
http://www.network54.com/Forum/424840/message/1138391998


Regards,

Paul

I did not receive any of the orginal manuals, or anything else for that matter. If I could get copies, that would be great.
We plan on doing some traveling, I know others have said the same and have not been able to find the time or money. Barb and I feel we can make it happen. We have been boating together for the 22 years we have known each other. This is our fourth boat together, we also have a 42C Silverton we will sell as we get closer to launching the Chris back in the water, in two or three years. We really are looking forward to a lot more boating. I have started to completely modeling/restore her, starting with gutting the bilges and working my way throught the entire boat. Right now I am doing as much investigating as I can. How much more efficent would she be with a pair of 8.1L's vs the 427's (even if they are rebuilt)? What if we do the Great Loop? I had to remove the bridge to ship her here and I must say, I like the look, plus less weight and less wind drag. I pulled the genset and engines a couple of weeks ago, shrink wraping it tomorrow so I can contune to clean the bilges and work on her. The fuel tanks are next.

The Mariners Museum might actually have drawings that were used to build your boat. On some models they have more info than others, but I have seen blueprint drawings of hull construction. Otherwise you could do a field measurement and construct a diagram yourself, to be used for the fitment of new motors. Best thing, find someone who has done the repower on your exact model. They will tell you valuable info about how much you will have to cut on motor stringers, if any.

Howard

howard at howardechols@hotmail.com

The library at the Museum has been close for remodeling for a couple of months. As soon as it opens back up I will look into that they have. I am a retired machine shop owner, so drawing it up is also a way to go and I would most likely enjoy it too, but if drawing are avaible, it would be easier of course.
Barb and I are going south for 3 months this winter and I will be digging and looking at all avenues.
Thanks