I am probably going to replace my Westerbeke W-30 in my 1978 Cal 34. The engine requires a V-drive. What are the implications of connecting to a V-drive? Is there an option to reverse the location of the exhaust?
I believe the Westerbeke 30 was fitted with a Paragon V-Drive with a 'V' angle of 24 degrees, our current replacement mounted to a Beta Marine engine would be the ZF 15MIV which has a 15 degree 'V' angle. This means you will have to make changes to you engine beds to allow for this difference.
The Beta Marine engine has no facility for the exhaust to exit at the front of the engine, but using the 2" high-rise exhaust which is fabricated from 316 stainless steel will allow further fabrication to reverse the output flow in relation to the installation and ease the routing of the exhaust hose. Alternately, we also have an threaded exhaust stub that will allow the fabrication of a suitable exhaust from readily available threaded pipe fittings.
OK guys. I have a CAL 34 with an A4 that purrs like a kitten and the V-drive works great. Problem is, I know my time is limited. No transmission parts available and the A4 is a dinasour. I have read the past forums and understand that the engine/transmission swap is not an easy one, but I am a little confused as to why, So far, the only reason given is the angle of the engine/V-drive. Is there a problem with just rearranging the engine mounts to adjust for the difference in angle of the new motor and transmission? Maybe I'm missing something here.
The problem is that because of the angle of the V-drive is so different to that of the A4 (15 degrees as opposed to 24), there are a lot of changes necessary to the engine beds to make everything fit and line up. It is sometimes easier to rip the old beds out of the boat and start again. You will need a new shaft which is not a big thing on its own and you are likely to have to modify the companionway steps to allow decent clearance over the engine. None of the individual things are disasterous on their own, but when you have to pay a boatyard at $65 to $100 per hour, the installation cost can be very expensive. This particular repower can take 60 to 100 hours and when this is added to the cost of the new engine and associated gear (shaft, prop, control cables etc), the average owner of the boat stops short at the expense.
In short, the job and the result will make you happy as there will be a new lease of life for a great old boat. Unfortunately the expense puts many off.
Having said all this, there are a number of Cal 34 owners who are very happy with their choice to repower. They love their boats and enjoy sailing past many newer and supposed faster boats.
