Atomic 4 Replacement

W

Wanda Ericson

New Member
We have an Ericson 29 with the original Atomic 4 engine.
It is not running and we either will have to rebuild it or replace it.
Anyone, with advice on replacement with an Universal engine.
Does anyone know if used ones are available?
 
B

Bill Robbins

Member II
Lots of options with atomic 4 engines.
Suggest finding the atomic 4 website. They have LOTS of info and people that have done whatever you may be considering.
Personaly, I replaced with a diesel, but it was very expensive.
Consider an outboard? or the simplest thing is to put in the same motor.
 
G

gareth harris

Sustaining Member
I can recommend Don Moyer, I got a replacement A4 from him earlier in the year. Good, honest business man, although there are others who might rebuild/replace for less money; I wanted someone I could trust.
But there are diesels made which would power your boat easily and fit into the space of an A4. Which avenue you go down is really a matter of how much you want to spend, and whether you will use the boat in a manner to really need the extra cost of diesel with all the other work that would need to be done to install one.
 
B

BobB

Member II
Wanda Ericson said:
We have an Ericson 29 with the original Atomic 4 engine.
It is not running and we either will have to rebuild it or replace it.
Anyone, with advice on replacement with an Universal engine.
Does anyone know if used ones are available?
Click to expand...

I have an E27 with an original A4. I've ask this question many times and ultimately decided that, despite the cost, moving to a diesel is the best long-term investment. If you plan on keeping your boat for a while, go with a diesel, but recognize that, if you have the yard do it, it'll cost the price of the boat (or close to it). If cost is the most important consideration, going with an outboard is the cheapest alternative (you also end up with more space in the cabin), followed by replacing your A4 with a rebuilt one from Don Moyer (he IS the best period). If you go with the latter, consider moving to a freshwater cooling system and installing it at the same time. That will lengthen the life of the A4 many fold.

Good luck and let us know what you decide.

BobB
s/v Mariposa
1974 E27
Rock Creek, MD
 
Loren Beach

Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Having seen the conversion from an A4 to a one-cylinder Yanmar in an E-27, I can only say that servicing would be easy thereafter...
The new diesel looks "small" in that engine compartment!
:)

The owner did it all himself and it came out great, but then he is an engineer by trade and really sweated the details.

He kept the boat quite a few years and made some coastal pasages with it. He liked the economy of the diesel. I should note that the boat sold quickly for top dollar when he decided it was time to move up. In my experience there are lots more buyers for diesel sailboats than there are for gasoline-powered boats.

Best,

Loren in PDX
 
bigtyme805

bigtyme805

Member III
Diesel

Without question Loren hit the biggest point, the boat will sell easily with the diesel, and if you look at cost it's not that much more to put the diesel in.

Believe me when I say this, your boat will sell very quickly if you have a diesel.

Without all that said you have some decisions to make.

Dr. Anderson
E-27
 
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