Repowering a C-Dory

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From: Sundown (Original Message) Sent: 11/19/2002 7:07 AM

Since many of us have repowered or are thinking about repowering, it makes sense to start a thread where information focused on that point can be gathered. Last week I repowered my '86 22' "Classic" Angler with a 2003 Mercury 115 Four Stroke EFI. I purchased the Melinda Lee in February of this year in the Medford OR area and brought her back to Indiana. It was powered with the original 70 HP Johnson and had been used mostly in salt water. She had about 860 hours on her and I put on another 75 before changing motors. The Johnson was running OK but was a little rough at idle and low speeds. I discovered the cylinder walls were a "little" scored and the power head would need to be overhauled in the not to distant future. I sought and received a lot of advice from a lot of people (especially Les) about repowering. I decided I was going to have to repower, sooner or later and decided to do it now. One theory is to run the old motor until it pukes and another theory is to take it off while it still has value and can be sold. I was able to trade my old motor, controls, oil tank, gauges, wiring and etc. to my dealer in exchange for all the labor in rigging plus the cables, controls, all new gauges and the other bits and pieces required. I figured this got me about $1,500 for the old motor and everything else that was removed from the boat. I also figured it was worth something to me to have the new motor now and enjoy it. And, I didn't want to be in the position of shopping for a new motor after mine quit and the boat was not usable.

As far as which motor to buy, I will only repeat the good advice I received from Les and that is that there are several good motors made by good manufacturers and the important thing is to buy from a dealer you have confidence in and can trust to do a good job and take care of any future problems that might arise. In my case, the dealer I have been associated with for a couple of years is the Mercury dealer. I have had nothing but good experiences with him. The local Honda dealer is at best incompetent and at worst a crook. There were no other 4-stroke dealers close. I could have purchased the motor out of state and saved about $500 and the sales tax (if I wanted to commit perjury and a felony on my tax return). However, I decided it was worth that much to do business with my local dealer. I never really considered a 2-stroke motor, although I am sure they would do a good job. I was after "quiet", smooth, smoke-free operation and wanted to be able to run a low speeds for hours, if need be, without worry. I actually use the Melinda Lee more in the winter than the summer, so quick starting cold weather operation was important. You might want to make sure the bolt holes in the transom will be usable with a new motor. I think they are pretty much standard these days. Incidentally, my fuel consumption on the 115 Mercury is about 1/2 of what it was on the old 70 Johnson. The next decision was what size motor.

My Angler was rated for a maximum of 90 HP by C-Dory. That would have been my motor of choice; however, the 90 has carbs and the 115 HP has EFI and I REALLY wanted EFI. It starts instantly in cold weather with no choking, smoking or fiddling while it warms up. However, there is a caveat to be aware of when "over" powering and that is insurance. I had State Farm and they refused to insure it with the 115, as did BoatUS. I, personally, believe that there is a risk of claim denial if the insurance company is not informed that a motor exceeds the factory specs. If you decide to go this route, be aware and make an informed decision. I did find a specialty carrier that would insure with the 115 HP so decided to go for it. Now that I have about 10 hours on her, I can tell you there was a valid reason for C-Dory to rate her for a maximum of 90 HP. Even with the 15" prop I am using for break-in, she will exceed 35 mph at 6,000 rpm and at that speed, she is a handful. Who knows what she will do with a 17" prop which I believe is probably the correct one. These boats are not designed for that kind of speed, so be aware. The good news is you can cruise fairly fast with the bow trimmed down a little and not labor the motor. It is when the bow is up and she is on plane at that speed that the flat bottom wants to slide, wander and tip somewhat. I rarely, if ever, run that fast so it isn't a big deal to me. Maybe the later models without the perfectly flat bottoms would do a little better.

Some of my new gauges were backordered and have just come it and my new custom fuel tank is on the way. Hopefully, all that will be finished up soon. When it is I will post a picture of the motor and the new tank and provide some information on it. When the actual prop size gets resolved, I will put that information on the prop thread for future reference. I will be more than happy to answer any questions about my experience on repowering.

Larry on the Melinda Lee

From: Redƒox Sent: 11/19/2002 9:58 AM

Larry that was great, thank's for posting your experience!
I would add... selact a motor with a low gearing, (now I'm sure that is going to draw controvercy from some) but in my experience, when changing to a 15 pitch prop from a 17, (both OEM 3 blade) I noticed more cavitation going on with the lesser pitch prop (15p') and a harsher ride also. I realized this was true when I found on Suzuki's website, they explain why a lower geared "outdrive" (lower unit) is able to run a steeper pitched prop, in turn that more "traction" (in my own word's) in the water, less cavitation, better ride, because it does not allow the bow to fall as fast off of a wave, I noticed this a few years ago out in open sea when running swells. The 17 pitch prop gave a much better ride and I was able to trim the lower unit out of the water a little farther. One of the reasons I belive it does this is, the prop does not need to be spinning as fast, and another reason is, steeper pitch prop's have more rake, (better bite out of the water)
I realize this was one of the sales pitches Suzuki was using to promote their product, (they have the lowest geared outboard's going) but in my experince it's not just a sales pitch but true! Thank's for suffering my opinion. arg!
Greg

From: Redƒox Sent: 11/20/2002 9:43 AM

Larry,
re-reading your post, I will have to agree with the handling
going weird and Dangerous) at those speed's. Back when I had the 140 on, I was amused cruising near 40 mph (on perfectly flat water!) with the Classic C-Dory of mine.

I realized that hull was definitely was not made for speed! just so that is point is emphasized for all to realize.

As far as the bolt patern goes, I had a total of 4 main engines and all had the same patern.