1991 Luhrs Tournament 350 Engine Replacement?
 

So I am hoping someone can help. We have a 1991 Luhrs Tournament 350 with twin 454s. One engine went down last week and our thought is we might as well replace both based on age and wanting to do it right. The boat is in near perfect condition and is exactly what we want. The question is about the price/value of replacing the engines. We are looking at $24K to do both engines (not sure yet if this is a good price and will be shopping it). Our best guess on the low end prior to having the issue with the engine I would have valued the boat around $30K.

My question is this:
If we put $24,000.00 into a boat that was previously worth $30,000.00 how much will that affect the resale value? Not that we would be selling it but we are trying to gauge the value of repowering at this point.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Re: 1991 Luhrs Tournament 350 Engine Replacement?
 

You won't recoup the cost of repowering, that's for certain. What percentage, I really don't know, but definitely less that half.

I would suggest you take a look at repowering with a proper marine-built 383 stroker, much less weight than your big-blocks and a bit cheaper too.

Give Michigan Motorz a call, www.michiganmotorz.com, they will be happy to discuss various options with you.

Re: 1991 Luhrs Tournament 350 Engine Replacement?
 

As mentioned above by Walleyed chances are you'll hardly see any of that investment back if you were to sell the boat after re powering with brand new engines. If I were you I'd be looking for as inexpensive a fix as possible and that would mean having one or both of the 454s rebuilt and at the same time replace the risers and manifolds on both.

If you are stlll considering new, you are going to have a hard time finding big block replacement motors since 454s and the 496 (8.1) are no longer being manufactured so you cant get one new from Mercury, Volvo or Crusader. That leaves you with repowering with one of the new EFI high powered small blocks like the 6.0 and if you go that route your probably looking at having to change the props and or transmissions to make the small block work correctly so it's not just the cost of the motors that have to be considered.

Once again if it were me I'd be looking to have your engines rebuilt.

Re: 1991 Luhrs Tournament 350 Engine Replacement?
 

On any vehicle , with a prop or wheels, almost never can you even come close to recouping the cost of an engine replacement.. Thats reserved for something you love and wish to keep forever, not caring about if its "worth it" or not...
I went online and looked around and the 454 marine is available at several places.. A place called US Marine offered a series of years of rebuilt 454 engines for just 2 grand each, to about 4 K,with a 7 year/500 hour warrantee...
They might be imported however, do your research.
Complete crated new 454 marine engines were around $ 6000-7000 from other dealers..

Google 454 Marine engines, and lots of stuff pops up.
You can also have your engines rebuilt... Seems to me, 2 rebuilts w/new manifolds, etc, keeping pans, and whatever other parts are solid and rust free should be no more than about 12-14 K or less for the parts... I was in the auto business for decades, and bought lots of engines.. Rebuilts these days are VERY good... I would shop around, get 2 rebuilt 454 marine engines with solid warrantees, get whatever peripheral parts the installer recommends, and just get the right marine mechanic to do the work.. It would seem it could be done for well within what you want to spend. Shop around .. a LOT. Some places charge double what others do, just because they can get it. bob

Re: 1991 Luhrs Tournament 350 Engine Replacement?
 

Agreed. Repowering only makes sense if you plan on keeping it for some time. It's very unlikely that a buyer would pay EXTRA for the repowered engines. The rest of the boat, even the fuel tanks, block your recouping.

If you sold the boat and used that $24k for a newer boat would you get anywhere near what you'd like? Probably not in that size boat. And gas vs diesels you're competing with at 31 feet and up too.

If you love the boat its a good idea not forgetting everything else is coming up on 30 years old. Personally speaking, I would not. To many war wounds and wear and tear on the old girl.