sea ray 500 199x motor swap

[guus]

last year i went to see a sea ray 500 from 1991 and i fell in love with it.
I just love the spaceousness inside. they dont make em that wide anymore nowadays.

even better the 1993's and up since they have the curved seating and fridge on deck.

but... they all come with the detroits which are ancient for one and also hard to find a mechanic that still is into these babies... not to mention oil leakinage and fuel usage.

So.. i was wondering is it possible to swap out these engines for a modern alternative?

and if so, which ones and how much would it cost to install them? (Not sure if these engines even can be taken out without cutting open the deck..)

 

[RollerCoastr]

They came with 6V92’s, 8V92’s and later, Cat 3176’s and 3196’s.

You could maybe find a pair of refurbed QSM-11’s, but at that point it would probably cost more than one that already has big Cats...

 

[370Dancer]

Far cheaper to find the boat with the engines you want than the other way around

 

[bahamabreisus]

We have a '92 with Detroit 8V92s. Stay with the early ones, not DDEC's. The old ones are for the most part, maintenance free. I have one small oil leak, not work dealing with, not even a qt between changes. We burn about 30 gals per hour running on plane 22-24 mph. Cats have their issues also, lots of after cooler maintenance $$. Refrig/ice maker in cockpit was an option on all of them. I prefer the old style cockpit as far as function, new style looks nicer, but everybody has to move to let the person sitting in the back out. Anyway you go, these old girls are tanks.