Not a c-dory but a nice boat

Looks very nice. Take Les Lampman's advice, do not buy an I/O on a dare, sorry...
 
Like the hull & forward facing windshield but the I/O would scare me away...
 
not the great i/o debate again. as there are thousands and thousands of i/o boats on the water, and have been for 40 years, they can not be that bad. I think because les is a shop owner and only gets to deal with the poorly maintained units, which is way they are in the shop, he has a unwarranted bias towards them. just like your out board , you have to maintain it.
 
The boat is a beauty. Clippercraft boats used to be made of marine grade mahogany plywood. Don't know about this one though.

From my experience working on outboards and I/Os, an I/O is a mechanics retirement plan! They take more maintenance and the parts cost more. They have many parts that OB's don't have and those parts are expensive. Volvo parts are the most expensive of the stern drive brands.

Sterndrives have to be removed every year and the splines lubed, and aligned. The boots (bellows) need periodic replacement, and the two u-joints have to be lubed and replaced from time to time. The rubber boots and hoses are the only thing keeping the ocean out of the boat. There are two water systems, raw and coolant. Some have the raw water pump inside the sterndrive, like an outboard. To split the drive, the oil has to be drained. The drive is heavy, and needs a special hoist, like a floor jack with a bracket, the entire drive is held in a bracket on the bench, and the upper section is removed and reinstalled with a hoist.

The engines have cast iron manifolds and elbows. The elbows need replacement, more often if used in salt water. The raw water pumps on some I/O's including Volvo's, are on the engine, and are very expensive. Alternators, starter motors, v-belts, coolant circulating pumps, and more spark plugs that are difficult to reach.

Add to that, on a deep vee boat, the drive is underwater all the time. The drive cannot be tipped up to be out of the water. I/O boats are best kept on a trailer between uses. In salt water, copper bottom paint will corrode the aluminum stern drive housing.

After my shop time making money on I/O's, I would never own an I/O boat.

Larry H
Retired O/B mechanic. Who also worked on I/O's.
 
starcrafttom":m527g5ae said:
not the great i/o debate again. as there are thousands and thousands of i/o boats on the water, and have been for 40 years, they can not be that bad. I think because les is a shop owner and only gets to deal with the poorly maintained units, which is way they are in the shop, he has a unwarranted bias towards them. just like your out board , you have to maintain it.

Or (as you can see from Larry's quote above) a warranted bias. :wink: Still it is a nice looking and well designed boat. All one needs to do is to yank out the I/O, patch those holes, put on a bracket, mount and outboard on this and then you'd have a boat that would be OK (except for all that wood to maintain). Since I'd rather be fishing, I'll stick to my mostly fiberglass C-Dory.
 
FWIW,

New Moon has a Volvo Penta 290 DP-E Duo-Prop sterndrive, powered by a very torquey KAD44 260hp diesel - much harder on the sterndrive than even a big-block gasser. I just took the drive in for its first service (other than lube and bellows changes, which I do myself without fancy tools or hoists) in 5 years and 2600 hours. The drive has 3600 hours on it total, and the u-joint has even more (the boat's original drive leg failed early and was replaced on VP's nickel).

I knew it needed a seal, because there was milkiness in the drive lube when I drained it last fall. So I thought I'd have it checked out thoroughly. One of VP's most highly respected sterndrive wizards has it apart, and he says it's in perfect condition except that it needs new propshaft seals.

For the 290 DP-E drive at least, there is no requirement to remove drive, check alignment, and lube u-joint. That sounds like what is required for Mercruiser drives like the one in a friend's Bayliner. The raw water pump and impeller is easily accessible on the front of the engine, not in the drive.

It's true that maintanining an I/O with its belts etc is more complicated than maintaining an outboard, but VP sterndrives are not necessarily all that bad. And we do have some advantages, such as super-simple cabin heat and hot water, and tons of torque and good fuel economy from that diesel.
 
The I/O really fall down when kept in the water full time. I have owned 3 in my life--and never would own another one. A neighbor has a large houseboat--which is powered by I/O's--and it is a nightmare. He has been trying to sell the boat for over a year--no takers. Even worse, he is afraid to take the boat out, because of the failures which occur each time. Due to the channel and turns getting back to his dock--he has to have both engines working (or a tug boat).....

I realize that in some circumstances that the I/O work well. Certainly a diesel boat on a trailer would be one of the best applications. But modern outboards are so reliable and easy to work on! (ever try and replace a starter on one of these small boats I/O?.)
 
Hi Doctor Bob,

And yes I have replaced the starter, just to make sure I knew how to make use of my spare. Good thing I have long arms and mirrors!

I've often thought how nice it would be to be able to see and reach everything on each side of the engine.
 
I tend to agree & disagree. All things outboard are expensive -- all things boat are expensive. For a trailered boat, I wouldn't be afraid of a volvo penta, because I think they are quite durable/tested/etc. The engines are no more or no less of a maintenance item than an outboard, especially if they are fresh water cooled. All of the motors used in salt are subject to corrosion/degradation and will be a problem even with maintenance. Wooden boats are a maintenance issue, but are way cooooool. Just have to examine ones' priorities. Main problem is for the permanently moored boats, where the outdrive is submerged 100% of the time. Ron
 
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