Re: Bertram 20 inboard to outboard
Like most of the other mods you make to boats, it's possible, the question is whether it's a good idea or not.
If you're ok with paying the cash and doing the work, then you can do it and you'll end up with a boat that floats and will move across the water. It may not handle as well as a boat designed for outboards (or at all) or it may give an uncomfortable ride, or be hard to steer, but it's not going to explode or anything if you stick outboards on it.
If you decide to go forward with this, I'd start by asking the manufacturer if that model of boat can work with outboard drive. They may even have made an identical model with outboards so you know it will work.
If you can't talk to them (I don't remember if they're still around or not) or they don't have an outboard version of the boat, then you can proceed by drawing up plans to replace/reinforce the transom (for inboards it's relatively weak, for an outboard it needs to be much stronger) and figuring out how you'll mount the outboards on it, where the fuel lines will go, etc.
Then plan on adjusting trim once you get it assembled and into the water.. moving the engine weight back will tend to push your bow up, so you'll want to move some weight forward to adjust for that.
That's the longish answer to your question.. if you're asking if this is a common thing that people have done successfully, the answer is that it's not common because it's expensive to do and doesn't usually come out too well, but people have done it and been happy with the result too.
Erik
