new inboard

[odayuk]

hi my name is colin i have an oday 25. over the pond ; i sail in uk waters ,at the
moment i use outboard but would like to install diesel inboard any help please. With horse power,engine size or type either sail drive or prop shaft.
Many thanks
Colin

 

[Sunbird22358]

I think O'DAY offered a 7.5HP Volvo (maybe YANMAR?) Diesel as an option for the 25 and later the 26. This was set-up with a traditional shaft and strut. Engine was positioned aft of the galley under the cockpit, access was mostly through the starboard sail locker (Although, the pics below show access from port quarterberth). Original inboard option was a 6 or 7 HP VIRE gas engine, later the OMC 15 HP ZEPHYR saildrive was the gas option, Diesel option was added around 1981-2 and I think the OMC inboard was dropped at that time. I think you may be best to check out specs on various Diesels to see what fits, sail-drive types may be easiest to retro-fit.

I found a few pics of a 1983 model on-line, at least it gives some hints. I also found 2 pics of a 1985 O'DAY 26 with the Diesel option, since the 26 was really just a redesigned 25, it may help as well.

 

[Joe11688]

I'm wondering if it's worth while to install an inboard engine in an O'Day 25 that wasn't designed for it, Rod.
I say this only because my friend Ray owns a 1986 O'Day 26 that has always sat high in the stern when it was at her mooring.
My friend Mike has a 1986 O'Day 272 and it sits high in the stern. As a matter of fact, I slept in the Port 1/4 birth on his boat at anchor in Hadley's Harbor one night and I had to turn around in the bunk with my feet facing the bow and my head in the cubby hole. That way, my head was raised higher than my feet. I have Acid Reflux and I have to sleep with my head higher than my feet.
His 272 had a 15 hp Yamaha outboard on the stern.
This leads me to believe that these boats were designed for inboard engines and O'Day offered them on the market without engines to keep the cost down and sell more of them.
I know that Ray had to move some stuff to the stern in order to get it his 26 to level out.
So my question is,--is this fellow's O'Day 25 going to sit too low in the stern with the bow a little high after he gets the engine, fuel tank, and everything else installed?
I'm sure he loves this boat but perhaps he should think about buying another boat that already has an inboard diesel. Myself, I prefer an outboard.

 

[cbourne200]

I have an '87 O'Day 272 with Westerbeke Ten-2 deisel inboard. 9 gal fuel tank is in stern. It has always had at least 4 gal of fuel in it, and it consistently has water in the cockpit after a rain. Cockpit won't drain because of design. I've spoken to other 272 owners, and this is a typical 'complaint'. Seats retain water, cockpit floor (after a hard rain) can have as much as 1-1.5 " water. I just climb on stern, stand there a few minutes for it to drain as much as possible, then use a long handled deck brush to 'sweep' the remaining water out.

 

[Sunbird22358]

"I'm wondering if it's worth while to install an inboard engine in an O'Day 25 that wasn't designed for it, Rod."
Well, Joe, the inboard WAS an option on the 25 right from the 1975 introduction of the 25. However, the 25 owner across the pond asked for info on installing an inboard in place of his outboard...... and I provided some info. In truth though......perhaps I left out the most important information! It is possible to repower a 25 with an inboard Diesel, and it won't affect the trim that much (remember, inboard was a factory option) or at least not enough to worry about. What I absent-mindedly left out was the biggest downside to this repower.....$$$$$. Assuming a brand-new Diesel and all running gear, installed by a professional......figure in round numbers to spend at least $5K, most likely much more. So, unless he LOVES this particular O'DAY 25 and will sail her for a good long time (does anyone other than you and I keep a boat that long??) this repower will double the value of the boat, but not really increase the resale value, in other words, I doubt one could expect to really see much payback at resale time. As you say, better to find another 25 (or 26) that already has hte inboard Diesel installed from the factory.
An inboard DOES have advantages: with prop located well below boat, it won't come out of the water in a sea (well ,I guess it could, but you'd have other worries then?), prop is ahead of rudder for better flow of water over rudder at slow speeds, Diesel vs gas.... some consider Diesel safer due to less explosive fuel (but with an outboard and keeping fuel tank in cockpit or better yet vented locker like on 1979-83 25 and your 222, as long as scuppers are not leaking.... no gas or fumes should get below anyway), thrust is on center, not offset to one side like outboard would be on 25.
Inboard does have disadvantages too, besides cost..... most inboards are 4-stroke and so unlike our outboards (2-stroke models), an inboard can only be run when the boat is relatively level (up to a minimal heel angle) otherwise the lube oil in the crankcase may not reach vital parts, I never would have thought of that.... but several friends with inboards have mentioned it. I'm not sure why, but this does not seem to affect 4-stroke outboards. An inboard will increase drag, you can't retract the prop while sailing (well, again...... that can be done, but unless you have a top-notch racing boat...... it would be pretty pricey! I have a picture of a racer hauled out down in Newport that does have a retractable prop and shaft!)

So, anyway........ he asked, I provided info. Would I recommend repowering with an inboard?? Well, maybe not after considering cost. But, it is his boat, and the job is possible!

The 25 below is a 1983 model with a Diesel inboard, not the best pic....but she trims pretty level.

 

[Joe11688]

I have an '87 O'Day 272 with Westerbeke Ten-2 deisel inboard. 9 gal fuel tank is in stern. It has always had at least 4 gal of fuel in it, and it consistently has water in the cockpit after a rain. Cockpit won't drain because of design. I've spoken to other 272 owners, and this is a typical 'complaint'. Seats retain water, cockpit floor (after a hard rain) can have as much as 1-1.5 " water. I just climb on stern, stand there a few minutes for it to drain as much as possible, then use a long handled deck brush to 'sweep' the remaining water out.

That's odd. I've never heard of that before. It's an inboard diesel without wheel steering right? Wheel steering would add more weight with the engine. Maybe you can increase the diameter of the self bailing hose and thru-hull fittings, or you could change the configuration of the hose by adding a Nylon 90 degree fitting with a shorter hose to go from the the sole thru-hull fitting to the top of the 90 degree fitting.
I checked out the cockpit sole thru-hull fitting on my boat and found it to be much too long. The longer this fitting is, the less pitch you're going to have in the hose for the water to run off.
My boat came through with a single 1" ID rubber hose and it was bent to form a 90 degree angle it could exit out the transom thru-hull fitting. It was almost kinked. I got rid of it years ago and replaced it with a couple of pieces of 1" ID vinyl reinforced hose from the hardware store. I used a Nylon 90 degree fitting and four stainless steel hose clamps. With that said though, I still feel that the thru-hull fitting that they installed at the factory in the soul trap on my boat is too long. I talked to Rudy about this a number of years ago in his store. I asked him if he thought I could remove the fitting and cut and grind it down a little to make it shorter and still have the hose fit and he said that he didn't think so.
Here's my self bailing cockpit hose set-up. Look how long that top fitting is. Look at all the theads on that fitting. I think that Rudy is right though. I probably shouldn't screw around with it unless I can replace it with something shorter. He didn't have anything in his shop that was shorter. Anyway, this seems to work.

 

[Joe11688]

I agree with you Rod. If the guy loves this boat enough, he'll put the engine in it. You provided him with some excellent info, as always. O'Day Dave has an inboard diesel in his O'Day 25 and he loves that boat. It's a keel/centerboard that he recently bought fully found, with the trailer included.

 

[Sunbird22358]

Joe, you could cut that thru-hull shorter, since it looks to be made for a thicker cockpit sole judging by how long the straight, threaded part is. However, I'm not sure how much your could gain, since you would need to add a new threaded tail-piece to give you a hose-barb for the hose. Might gain and inch or so higher.........? Problem is that you would almost need to remove the thru-hull and bring it to the hardware/marine store to get the right size/type tail-piece...... if you're going that far, you might as well just replace the whole fitting with a shorter one.

In the long run, if it ain't broke, why fix it?

I have included a pic of the cockpit seat scuppers that we added to our old CAL 21, we used a 90deg tail-piece, but straight ones are available.

 

[cbourne200]

Trinkka - problem is not with diameter of hose. Water lays against the bridge deck and cabin sides where they meet the cockpit seats. A couple hundred extra pounds could possibly bring aft trim down and prevent pooling of water... But who wants to carry around extra weight? Yes, tiller steering, not wheel. When I first bought this boat, I asked on this forum whether others with 272 had same 'problem', and answer was affirmative. Check "O'Day 272 bow to stern trim" around ides of March...

 

[Joe11688]

Oh OK. I got you. My friend Mike has an 86 O'Day 272 similar to yours and he must have that same problem. I helped him sail it from the Cape to Bristol RI when he first got it.

 

[cbourne200]

Hey - that boat looks just like mine! Except for the lack of sacrificial cloth on furler.

Wait - they ALL look the same (with few exceptions). :{o

 

[Joe11688]

The port light on the Starboard side was all dulled from the sun on that boat but the port light on the other side seemed OK. It's strange how those port lights get like that after a while. My port lights are starting to get a little dull too.

That boat sailed well. I took her into a shallow cove in the Elizabeth Islands. I love the fact that you can go into shallow water with a boat of that size. We wound up spending the night in a place called Hadley's Harbor near Wood's Hole MA. I hadn't been in there in years. What a beautiful place that is. I'll bet you some sailing folks in your neck of the woods have sailed there and know the place well.

Joe

 

[redhead78]

Hey guys I think the 5k est is too low, its going to be much closer to- 10k, hes gonna need from key to prop, thats a lot of $ in there besides the engine, and a tank, motor beds glassed in , a stern tube glassed and faired in, possibly a strut....buy one with a diesel in it already... Red

 

[Joe11688]

Joe, you could cut that thru-hull shorter, since it looks to be made for a thicker cockpit sole judging by how long the straight, threaded part is. However, I'm not sure how much your could gain, since you would need to add a new threaded tail-piece to give you a hose-barb for the hose. Might gain and inch or so higher.........? Problem is that you would almost need to remove the thru-hull and bring it to the hardware/marine store to get the right size/type tail-piece...... if you're going that far, you might as well just replace the whole fitting with a shorter one.

In the long run, if it ain't broke, why fix it?

I have included a pic of the cockpit seat scuppers that we added to our old CAL 21, we used a 90deg tail-piece, but straight ones are available.

I don't know Rod. I don't think that I would want to take a chance cutting that thru-hull shorter. I think that once I got done grinding it to get the 1" hose to fit on it, the wall of the fitting would be too thin because of the way it's made. I could be wrong about that though.
Maybe I'll check back with Rudy and see if he has something shorter. He bought out a lot of the parts that were in the Alden Sailboat warehouse a couple of years ago. He may have something similar that in stock right now that's a little shorter that will take 1" hose.

 

[Sunbird22358]

Joe, no need to grind the present fitting down to accept the hose, you have a pretty good length of straight threaded "pipe", after trimming the length you then add a hose barb that threads onto the "stub" of the current thru-hull after trimming. Look again at the picture that I included, the hose barb used there was a separate piece from the thru-hull and threaded over the trimmed "stub". If I had taken the picture before installing the hose-barb it would look just like your thru-hull if you cut near the red line that I drew on your pic. Still, not sure you would gain enough height to make it worth doing.

What is that old saying? If it ain't reall broke, why fix it?

 

[Joe11688]

Joe, no need to grind the present fitting down to accept the hose, you have a pretty good length of straight threaded "pipe", after trimming the length you then add a hose barb that threads onto the "stub" of the current thru-hull after trimming. Look again at the picture that I included, the hose barb used there was a separate piece from the thru-hull and threaded over the trimmed "stub". If I had taken the picture before installing the hose-barb it would look just like your thru-hull if you cut near the red line that I drew on your pic. Still, not sure you would gain enough height to make it worth doing.

What is that old saying? If it ain't really broke, why fix it?

OK. I see what you mean Rod. I don't know if I'd want to go that route. I keep my spare anchor and a lot of gear in that area. I'd like to get a Nylon thru-hull fitting that's similar to the one I have, but shorter. If it's short enough, I could probably get away with a straight reinforced Vinyl hose with two clamps.
I know that old saying holds true in most cases but I get tired of leaning over the transom trying unclog the hose by inducing suction with my finger
as I'm trying to hose out a cockpit that won't drain.
The hose barb is a good idea that I would use in another area of my boat where there would be less chance of it getting broken. I store a lot of my gear in that hold.
What I'd like to do is be able to stick a long flexible swab into that sole plate thru-hull to clean it out when it gets clogged with leaves and stuff. I'm going to check with Rudy to find out if he has something shorter that will fit 1" ID hose.
To me, it's really worth a shot. The hose set-up I have now is better than what came through factory, but it can be even better if I can get a shorter fitting. Thanks for the suggestion Rod.
Joe