Islander 28 engine retrofit

[Heatwave]

Hi Everyone,
I'm thinking of acquiring a 76 I-28. Unfortunately, she has an ancient Volvo Penta MD-6 two cyl. diesel that's likely been saltwater cooled for most of its 35 year existence...
It still runs, but is not pumping cooling H2O. I fear the impeller is toast, the cooling passages plugged w rust scale and the cast iron manifold could not be far behind.
I was quoted over $460.00 plus tax for a new w/p and t/stat! The m/fold is n/a...
I'm thinking of mounting a 10 or 15hp outboard off the transom, for practical/economic reasons, since I already have either.
Does anyone have any recommendations? Does the I-28 transom need to be reinforced to avoid problems in rough seas, and what would be the best way of doing this?
Did anyone perform such a retrofit?
Thanks...

 

[knothead]

Hi Everyone,
I'm thinking of acquiring a 76 I-28. Unfortunately, she has an ancient Volvo Penta MD-6 two cyl. diesel that's likely been saltwater cooled for most of its 35 year existence...
It still runs, but is not pumping cooling H2O. I fear the impeller is toast, the cooling passages plugged w rust scale and the cast iron manifold could not be far behind.
I was quoted over $460.00 plus tax for a new w/p and t/stat! The m/fold is n/a...
I'm thinking of mounting a 10 or 15hp outboard off the transom, for practical/economic reasons, since I already have either.
Does anyone have any recommendations? Does the I-28 transom need to be reinforced to avoid problems in rough seas, and what would be the best way of doing this?
Did anyone perform such a retrofit?
Thanks...

I was looking to use my small 5 hp long shaft dinghy outboard as an emergency backup if/when the good old diesel engine goes down. My search for a mounting bracket was a little discouraging given that the I-28 transom has a slant to it and and not a lot of mounting room given all the stuff coming out the back and the swim ladder in the middle. Garelick has a pretty good site to start with but what I found there was that a permanent bracket mount was not possible if I wanted to get the prop in the water given the shape of the transom. If I was willing to forego the swim ladder then it could be done - barely. Swing down mounts are available but for your size engine they are a bit spendy and people I talked to said you want to get a real good one. Some of the cheaper ones are downright dangerous. If you choose to go that route then you'll discover that if you thought access to the engine was something try your luck crawling back to the middle of the transom to install a backing plate for your new mount. You definitely want to reinforce the transom especially with a swing down mount because the torque is tremendous with the motor down . A 10 or 15 hp motor could do some damage without adequate backing. I use 1/4" aircraft aluminum for backing myself. I just pulled and rebedded the stern pulpit which is how I know about access issues.