Repower for 28CC with gas

[capthorace]

There was a discussion on the dock yesterday about the repower options for the older 28's. Info shows two options 8.1 & 6.0 Crusaders. It seems that both have about 375 HP. What is the difference?


Has anyone here repowered and what did you reinstall?
What modifications were involved?
Also fuel economy and speed, both cruise and top end.
Last but not least COST?

The boats that were talking about are in the 94 & 95 with 7.4 Volvos, tower and outdrives.
Thanks for your help.

[Little Dandy]

I've crawled around the engine rooms of 28's both with 8.1s and 6.0s. For maintenance access, the 6.0's would get the nod for me.

On edit, these boats were straight inboards.

[billh1963]

With the weight of the 28 I wonder if you would miss the torque of the 8.1L?

Any, from what I have gathered the cost to repower a 25 with an 8.1L and to make the necessary exhaust, plumbing, and wiring changes runs under $15K. This includes the engine but would not include any changes to outdrives.

I would imagine you are looking at around $30K. However, it would be better to hear from someone who has actually done the upgrade!

[hammerhead]

repower

I have talked to MAc about this, and his thoughts were to go with the 8.1. These boats are heavy and need the torque to get the boats up and going. The 6.0 would be find for flat and calm days, but would greatly suffer in a 3ft chop were you needed to slow down a bit. He told me to deffinetly go with the 8.1 and I wouldnt be sorry.They also have done some mods to the exhaust, so the boats wouldnt suck up water back into the engines.

[Hey Doc]

6.0 vs 8.1

That is funny because I had a similar conversation with Mac about new boats sold with gas engines and he talked very highly about the 6.0. Stated that many dealers selling gas boats were not ordering the 8.1's anymore. Basically, that the 6.0 was smoother running engine. Would make sense that you need the extra torque, but again when I talked to him a few months back it sounded like most new gas orders were being built with the 6.0. Maybe it makes a difference on whether the boat has outdrives or straight inboards????

[Tunacious Tom]

I repowered with 6.0s and am happy

With a lot of help from Mac, I repowered a '95 28 with 6.0s and could not be happier. I have room in the engine room to work. The boat will get up and go, I have Jack shafted Duoprops and the props were dirty a few days back and at 3800 rpm I managed to get 32 kts. I have never had the boat to WOT due to rigging issues but it would be scary fast. In a 12 hr day of fishing with a 2 to 2 - 1`/2 hr run each way I burn 125 to 150 gals of fuel. I installed the engines, modified the exhausts, etc, with the help of friends and excluding engine cost,it cost me less than 5 grand. Mac is the man, he really helped me out and talked me through the installation step-by step. I have had two problem since installation--A fuel boost pump has gone bad and ethanol has caused fuel contamination problems which I have jusst fixed by installing separate fuel water separators. I am very happy with the 6.0s

Tom

[capthorace]

Sound great! Does the 28 have a tower and curtains?

[Tunacious Tom]

Crusader 6.0

Yes my 28 has a tower and curtains. I may have underestimated the cost of installation by a couple of grand. It took us six weeks working primarily on the weekends.
I suggest that you have a few conversations with Mac to get the pros and cons of repowering with the 6.0 vs other engines.

Good luck!

I hope that I have helped

Tom

[xl883lo]

If you look at the "standard" power options for the 07' CC28's the only gas option is the 6.0. Might lead you to believe it should be more than adequate.

[Stuart Wade]

Tom:

I didn't realize you were burning that little fuel. I guess my carb'ed 454's just were not as efficient as the current generation gas engines. I don't think I ever burned less than 175 gallons on a round trip on mine. In fact, most days coming in I was sweating running out of gas...............Miss seeing all you guys down at the dock,
Stu

[Tunacious Tom]

Stu,
There are times that I have burned more but that was due to unusual circumstances. Everyone at the dock says hello, it is not the same without the Sportsman. I followed your repower posts, glad to see you did so well.

Tom