Does anyone know what motor this is?
- Thread starter caguy
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It Appears To Be an OMC SailDrive
Though I've never known of one to be in a Catalina.
Here's a couple of pictures of my spare SailDrive.
Though I've never known of one to be in a Catalina.
Here's a couple of pictures of my spare SailDrive.
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Here is an article on sail drives:
from Mike Muessel at Oldport Marine in Newport, RI:
"Saildrives are neither fish nor fowl in the sailboat propulsion field, and are a close relative of the popular powerboat outdrive units.
"For the sailboat manufacturer they represent a quicker, more versatile and non-technical engine installation route as compared to a conventional inboard installation. Gone is the propeller shaft, along with its attendant coupling, stuffing box, cutless bearing, stern tube, and strut. Also missing are the alignment procedures between the engine and shaft that must be done on the production line.
"The saildrive can easily be mounted facing forward or aft, and because it isn't constrained by shaft angle or aperture location, it offers the builder more versatility in engine placement.
"There's also a certain propulsion efficiency in the saildrive, because the thrust is parallel to the boat's waterline, whereas the downward angle on a standard shaft means that some of the propeller's thrust is wasted.
"On the other side of the coin, the saildrive is a constantly immersed aluminum object in a hostile marine environment. If placed too far forward of the rudder, it offers little prop wash on the rudder for low-speed steering, and if placed well aft of the keel, it can increase drag. And don't forget the large hole that must be cut in the hull to accommodate the unit.
"We sold and helped to install a Yanmar saildrive unit on J.P. Mouligne's class-winning 50-footer in the Around Alone Race six years ago, and I must tell you, I didn't want to be the one to cut a huge hole in his beautiful Finot-designed carbon fiber hull to slide the leg through.
"Large hull holes or not, saildrives were still the required emergency power packages of choice in that race. We strapped a huge 200-amp alternator and a large water ballast pump to that little 18-hp engine, and it never failed him during that race.
"Some competitors thought the units needed more fairing, and proceeded to sand through the factory- applied barrier coating in an attempt to reduce drag. I was quick to point out that messing with the barrier coat is a recipe for electrolysis, and it must not be disturbed. Small scratches can be repaired with outdrive barrier coat.
"Because of the short shaft length in the saildrive legs, one should be careful to pick a prop that is rubber-bushed to reduce shifting shock on the drive system. Some folding props also feature shock-absorbers on the blades to further reduce clunking.
"A good boot seal to keep the ocean out of your boat is essential with these units, and I recommend you look for a double seal with a water detecting alarm between them, like Yanmar uses.
"Monitor the drive zinc closely and change it long before it disappears. The new zincs are split, so the prop doesn't need to be removed to replace them. "Follow the maintenance instructions carefully and be sure to use the recommended oil
from Mike Muessel at Oldport Marine in Newport, RI:
"Saildrives are neither fish nor fowl in the sailboat propulsion field, and are a close relative of the popular powerboat outdrive units.
"For the sailboat manufacturer they represent a quicker, more versatile and non-technical engine installation route as compared to a conventional inboard installation. Gone is the propeller shaft, along with its attendant coupling, stuffing box, cutless bearing, stern tube, and strut. Also missing are the alignment procedures between the engine and shaft that must be done on the production line.
"The saildrive can easily be mounted facing forward or aft, and because it isn't constrained by shaft angle or aperture location, it offers the builder more versatility in engine placement.
"There's also a certain propulsion efficiency in the saildrive, because the thrust is parallel to the boat's waterline, whereas the downward angle on a standard shaft means that some of the propeller's thrust is wasted.
"On the other side of the coin, the saildrive is a constantly immersed aluminum object in a hostile marine environment. If placed too far forward of the rudder, it offers little prop wash on the rudder for low-speed steering, and if placed well aft of the keel, it can increase drag. And don't forget the large hole that must be cut in the hull to accommodate the unit.
"We sold and helped to install a Yanmar saildrive unit on J.P. Mouligne's class-winning 50-footer in the Around Alone Race six years ago, and I must tell you, I didn't want to be the one to cut a huge hole in his beautiful Finot-designed carbon fiber hull to slide the leg through.
"Large hull holes or not, saildrives were still the required emergency power packages of choice in that race. We strapped a huge 200-amp alternator and a large water ballast pump to that little 18-hp engine, and it never failed him during that race.
"Some competitors thought the units needed more fairing, and proceeded to sand through the factory- applied barrier coating in an attempt to reduce drag. I was quick to point out that messing with the barrier coat is a recipe for electrolysis, and it must not be disturbed. Small scratches can be repaired with outdrive barrier coat.
"Because of the short shaft length in the saildrive legs, one should be careful to pick a prop that is rubber-bushed to reduce shifting shock on the drive system. Some folding props also feature shock-absorbers on the blades to further reduce clunking.
"A good boot seal to keep the ocean out of your boat is essential with these units, and I recommend you look for a double seal with a water detecting alarm between them, like Yanmar uses.
"Monitor the drive zinc closely and change it long before it disappears. The new zincs are split, so the prop doesn't need to be removed to replace them. "Follow the maintenance instructions carefully and be sure to use the recommended oil
Are you sure it's a motor? Rain water did that? Seriously, you can tell a lot about a boat just by looking at the engine. In this case, I'd be pretty careful in my survey of this boat as I would guess if the "motor" looks like this, there are a number of other "surprises" also to be discovered.... Be careful.
Thanks for all of the information. I have been able to research it online. I found a yahoo group that I joined specifically for saildrives. I am not too worried about it. I think I can rebuild it I've been rebuilding motors since I was 10. While working on it I can attach my 10 hp ob. I found a neat mod where he attached the motor mount on a drop in bracket so the whole thing can be removed just by lifting it off leaving just an 8x10 plate.
I got the boat cheap enough to allow plenty for restoration.
I got the boat cheap enough to allow plenty for restoration.
I did not know what engine it was but who ever said a Zephyr was right on, made by OMC (evinrude/johnson) in the mid seventies. The link has got a little bit more info on them. Only word of caution is parts and info will be hard to come by simple because they were never really popular and they are now over 30 years old. The outboard sound like a good plan to me ! good Luck !http://www.outboardrepairs.com/topics/011362.html
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That's the beauty of it I can use an ourboard and take my time with the motor. If it is too far gone then its no big deal.
Reconfigure the hole to put the outboard in it. I did it years ago. Just make sure that you have high sides and long shaft engine.
Leaving the saildrive in place
Many people have resorted to outboards when their saildrives have gone south. Just be sure that the boot between the engine and the hull is sound. They are not available, from what I have seen, but luckily they do no seem to fail often.
Bob, I'm not quite sure what you mean by the boot. If I pull the Saildrive, I will likely replace it with plate to fill the hole.
I found a pretty neat solution to the transom mount at this site.
http://www.blumhorst.com/catalina27/outboard-bracket.htm
If I do get the Saildrive working I can reinstall and remove the transom mount easily and keep it as a backup to the Saildrive.
This guy has an Atomic 4 which seems like another viable solution unless someone can suggest something else.
There was a post here a few months ago about this exact engine/ drive.. don’t remember whose, but there were several suggestions.. an interesting one of which was the small Chinese four stroke gasoline engine on a Swedish drive foot.. http://www.saildrive.us/
Looked like a viable solution since it has a similar footprint to the Zephyr.
That said, it looks like the engine itself is a block from OMC (Johnson Evenrude ) that was used for the 25/30 hp outboards of the time.. Probably easy to get “block” parts like ignition and reeds and moving parts in the block.. Probably not easy to get drive foot parts but Bombardier is really good about having old OMC parts available. Good luck with it !
Looked like a viable solution since it has a similar footprint to the Zephyr.
That said, it looks like the engine itself is a block from OMC (Johnson Evenrude ) that was used for the 25/30 hp outboards of the time.. Probably easy to get “block” parts like ignition and reeds and moving parts in the block.. Probably not easy to get drive foot parts but Bombardier is really good about having old OMC parts available. Good luck with it !
It is, as stated earlier, an OMC 15 HP Saildrive Zephyr. I used to install them. It is a 2 cycle outboard-like motor modified to be installed on a mount like an inboard.
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