Whittley cruismaster repower

[Barryl85]

Gday all,

The old mans engine in his Whittley has given in and he's looking at repower options. It has a 5L Mercruiser in it atm but he's looking to upgrade to newer mpi edition. There's a few options around and was wondering if anyone on here has done a similar exercise recently. The options he's looking at is the 4.5L v6 mercruiser which puts out 30hp more than his existing engine or just sticking with what he has in the newer model.

Also would like to know if anyone has imported one of these from the states or gone down the remanufactered path. Both of these can save a considerable amount of coin but come with a risk I guess. Any help would be appreciated and if anyone is or knows a reputable dealer between sunny coast and the goldie who could help us out would be great.

Cheers again,
Joel

[peterbo3]

Give Brisbane Marine at Clontarf a call. Troy Wood should be able to help. Ph 0738893033.

[brett62]

Hi Joel,

I have the same boat as your Dad and I am repowering with a diesel to give me better range as my fishing requirements have changed. I have removed the mercruiser which is a 5.7 L 300hp Carb with 80 hours on the clock. It is not a rebuilt motor and was purchased new with the power steering, alternator etc coming off the old motor. The block is a real 350 chev and it also has a bravo 1 complete drive and trim unit. I am replacing the whole unit. I am in the process of cleaning everything up and will be selling.

I personally would not have any less than 300hp in these boats. I have spoken to a few people with the small motor in these boats and the performance difference between the 5.0 and 5.7 is very noticeable. They are heavy boats and love to get up and sit on 22-25 knots. What ever you do make sure he has plenty of ponies in her.


I have been a little slack with completing my repower due to finishing off our house first which is taking longer than I had hoped.

[Barryl85]

Thanks for the info lads. The old man has decided to go with a remanufactered engine from Mercury. He's sticking with the same type of engine he had originally to cut down the costs. They use all the bolt on bits from the old engine. (Alternator, power steering etc). And he will get out of it for less than half the cost of a new engine. from all reports the 5L remanufactered blocks are meant to be great engines but only time will tell I guess.

Thanks

[seashawgal]

https://www.tradeboats.com.au/tradeaboat-reviews/engines/1403/mercruiser-43l-mpi-review

[mal555]

Good luck with the repower Barry, cost is a very powerful motivator when it comes to down to the final call.

As has already been mentioned by Brett, these rigs when fully loaded, let's face it this is how we do use them most of the time, are quite heavy, catering four up to four adults and all their gear.
The 5.0 litre option is certainly functional, but anybody I've been boating with running these boats always wish they had more low down power, especially in open water with a sea running.
The bigger cubed 5.7 and 6.2 litre mpi's options certainly lifted the all round performance for those using these boats at their maximum load carrying capacities, very favourably.

[Barryl85]

To be honest the old boy was happy with the 5L he had in the boat and in my opinion there was nothing wrong with the power he had. Maybe lacking a bit in the hole shot area when there's 6 on board. But other than that it is a great sea boat and surprisingly great on fuel for a boat of its size. We cruise on 22 to 25 knots and uses less than a litre per k. The old mans mate has the same boat with the 5.7 mpi fitted so he can compare with that and still chose to stick with what he had. The other swaying factor was that he was talked out of the 5.7 unless buying new. Apparently they have been having a few dramas with the remanufactered 5.7s.