Ok, i have been pondering if this can be done.

A mate of mine has just bought a fishing boat that has 2 Mariner 200hp V6 outboard motors. I was looking at the engines thinking how compact they were and wondered if they could be used in a kit car. They take up very little room and produce a fair bit of power. I'm guessing that the design is similar to a bike engine but in V6 or V8 form. There is a V8 bike engine out there that they use in the Radical which i beleive is 2 R1 engines 'welded' together and it's stunningly fast.

Marine engines are water cooled and usually sit end up rather that the usual laying down so this may provide problems when mounting the engine to the chassis. With a bit of thought i think it could work. Main problem is the cost of the engine. They are VERY VERY expensive so getting hold of one will proove difficult but hey no harm in looking.

Anyone have any thoughts..is it a mad idea?




[Edited on 10/12/05 by donut]

Are they not 2-strokes?

If so how well suited would they be to a car?

There must be a reason why 2-strokes are not used in cars (much). But it is an interesting thought though.

Cheers

Mark

I'm sure some of the bigger engines (the ones we would be interested in) are 4 stroke. I'll ask me Dad, he's an old sea dog!!

This was covered recently in a post.

Aren't they designed to run on full pelt for nearly all the time and not suited to accelerating/decelarating.

Pat...

Rover's ubiquitous V8 originally evolved from an america outboard V8.

Actually the Rover V8 is a Buick design introduced in 1961. It was designed by GM as a automotive unit. In January 1965 the tooling for the aluminum engine was sold to Britain's Rover Group to become the Rover V8 engine, which would remain in use for more than 35 years.

quote:

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Originally posted by mookaloid
Are they not 2-strokes?

If so how well suited would they be to a car?

There must be a reason why 2-strokes are not used in cars (much). But it is an interesting thought though.

Cheers

Mark

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you might not have to mix, my motorbike is 2 stroke with separate oil and fuel tanks

would your wife remember to add oil?

No use but a friend of my dads used to have a chandlers. He had a racing boat with 2*200hp outboards on in. It was scary.

If you want to use a boat engine go for a wartsila. Anything upto 17100Kw power.
So hard thay can run on road surfacing.
A bit lardy though at over 10,000 tonnes.

Thought outboards although water cooled, dont have a radiator, thought they had a heat exchanger?? Suck up cold water dont they? And spit out the hot??

afaik 2 stroke marine engines will be banned from next year due to new EU regulations.

I assume this only relates to new sales.

I forget where I read this

I picked up an old 150hp Mercury for £100. It was a two stroke straight six.
As previously mentioned, big two strokes don't like slow running. Flat out or nowt springs to mind!
Newer o/b's are four strokes but for the cost of them, plus mating a 'box and sorting a decent chimney (o/b's have them cast into the block), you may just as well use a bike lump. Wonder if anyone has tried an RG500 BEC?
I considered the old Mercury engine for an auto test mini using the o/b 'box but decided the best place for an outboard was on the blunt end of a boat......

wartburg, used 2 stroke triples ,
and saab started of with 2 strokes

biggest problem would be the polloution and smoke

Don't think you'd ever pass emissions testing... plus outboard motors are usually pretty expensive.. oh, and they don't have a transmission either..

A very interesting subject, and not NECESSAARILY wacky!

I don't know about the regs around using 2 strokes (which the 200hp v6 outboards are) in cars on the road.

What I do know is that I saw snowmobiles drag racing at santa pod and they were ludicrously fast!!!!!!!!

They ran v6 2 strokes, with over 300hp from 1.5 litres if my addled brain remembers rightly.

What are the regs on running 2 strokes in MSA governed motorsport where engines are "free" such as some sprints etc.

I only keep up with the autograss regs these days and 2 strokes are banned there...................which is unusual as the regs in grassin' are pretty free.

4 strokes kick out more rubbish than strokers do.....shame sva bods won't let them thru as a nice RG500 suzuki motor would be fun in a light car...sound and smell awesome as well

What anout helicopter engines?
Saw one in a motorbike once.

Do those marine outboards have a vertical crankshaft? If they do, converting them to car use, you'd have to sort out the oil returns and the like (assuming they're 4 stroke). I know that powerful 4 stroke outboards do exist. You'd also need a flywheel and a clutch to fit, plus a gearbox, but somebody has already mentioned that.

Two stroke engines just aren't as clean as a 4 stroke, because of the way they scavange you end up with fuel going straight out of the exhaust, and two stroke oil won't exactly be catalyst friendly.They'd be great for power to weight, and if they're designed for constant high load, they'll put up with a lot of thrashing.