Does an inline six cylinder engine fit wellcraft Excel 21

[Antti84]

I was wondering if a straight six cylinder engine would fit my wellcraft Excel 21 SL. The engine is an Mercedes 300turbodiesel car engine that I am going
to convert to marine use. Will it fit or will it be too tight? Anyone fitted six cylinder engines to a wellcraft Excel or similar boat

 

[Bondo]

Re: Does an inline six cylinder engine fit wellcraft Excel 21

The engine is an Mercedes 300turbodiesel car engine that I am going
to convert to marine use.

Ayuh,... That'll be Neat,... How are you going to pull That off,..??

 

[180shabah]

Re: Does an inline six cylinder engine fit wellcraft Excel 21

...How are you going to pull That off,..??

Thinking the same thing.

Not saying it can't be done, but WOW, what a major PITA, just to say it is diesel powered.

 

[Antti84]

Re: Does an inline six cylinder engine fit wellcraft Excel 21

In my country we pay over 2.20 dollars/ liter for gas. My old mercruiser engine was a 4 cylinder 165 3.7 liter. It took about 35-40 litres gas/hour.
Auto engine marinisation is possible and can be done, my friend has done several of them. A bit of fabrication but so much worth it. Perhaps I should start a project thread

The reason why I am askin this is that my boat is 150km away from my home. It?s a bit too long to drive there just to do some measuring.

Here you see a project thread of a guy that is running volvo car engine in his whip.
http://www.hilmersson-racing.com/start.asp?show=e

 

[180shabah]

Re: Does an inline six cylinder engine fit wellcraft Excel 21

If you are comfortable with fabrication, then of course it will fit. The fiberglass and wood of your floor and stringers will be easy to modify. Creating your rear engine mount theat will tie it to the drive, sourcing/fabricating the coupler, water jacketed exhaust (including the turbo) these are a little more complex. You don't have our USCG regs to deal with in your country (which country is it - your profile is not complete), but I assume you still want a safe vessel when you are finished.

That race boat didn't have an enclosed engine compartment and daily use factored into the equation.

Straigh shaft (or jets) with open engine compartment are very forgiving to the installer/designer.

 

[system-f]

Re: Does an inline six cylinder engine fit wellcraft Excel 21

Perhaps I should start a project thread

Please do, I would love to see how this is coupled to the transom housing and how the drive connection is made.

 

[Utahboatnut]

Re: Does an inline six cylinder engine fit wellcraft Excel 21

The engine could be made to fit pretty easy its the connection to the drive, cooling, mechanical issues that would trip you up in my opinion. size wise it cant be much bigger than a 350 v8 so I'm sure you could get it in there. If you do this make sure to start a project thread I would love to see this happen.

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Does an inline six cylinder engine fit wellcraft Excel 21

you gotta be kidding..... I just looked through 14 pages that I couldn't read with drool on my chin all the while cussing your friend for have more toys than I even dream about...... Whether it fits the existing floor is NOT a concern for that level of a craftsman.... That said, if you are unwilling to cut your interior you may very well have a fitment issue as most newer boats were never offered with anything longer than a v8... Do you not have anyone close to the boat who could measure for ya?
Are you planning to marinize the engine without having the boat present?

 

[Utahboatnut]

Re: Does an inline six cylinder engine fit wellcraft Excel 21

Well after looking at the work done by your friend, (holy crap thats nice) why don't you just turn the mercedes into a car/boat then you wont have to worry if it fits or not. Seriously if anyone can do it that guy could, the machine work is UNBELIEVEABLE. Well done.