Switching old motor out for newer car rotation motor

[jrad]

I have a stock 86 ski nautique with a cracked block. I want to grab a motor off craigslist or local junk yard that would obviously be opposite rotation from what is in the boat now... I would just like to hear some feedback from people who actually have done this and not just talked about it. From my understanding it's mostly a matter of reversing the pump and getting a new prop wich I'm cool with. Thanks!

[ddipert]

I've not done this conversion but what about your transmission? If your going to change the rotation of the engine you will either need to change the transmission or your have your current trans in reverse all the time. It wasn't designed for the load in reverse.
Outboards we use to be able to swap a left hand fpr a right hand engine but we would also need to change the lower unit.

[s_kelley2000]

Assuming you have the 1:1 transmission it is very easy to switch it to run a standard rotation motor. It is just a matter of switching the pump direction but that transmission can be setup to spin either way. Check out correctcraftfan.com for more info on this type of swap.

[TRBenj]

Like they said, CCF will be your best friend.

The swap can be done but it's not as simple as reindexing the pump and getting a new prop. You'll also need a new distributor gear and starter (marine specific). The end result will be a boat that leans to starboard more than it should. I've driven narrow boats built with RH props in mind that are now spinning lefties... I found the handling to be somewhere between poor and dangerous. The 2001 is a bit wider boat so shouldn't be quite as affected, but it does have unequal hook built into the hull specifically to tune for the RH prop so that design feature would be fighting a LH powertrain.

It would not be all that difficult to swap over your original internals and put an auto block back together to spin RH again. Likely cheaper to do it right than to buy a new prop and starter. And you wouldn't be left with a boat that handles undesirably either. Something to consider.

[jrad]

Yes I have the velvet drive 1:1. I just haven't been able to track down a counterclockwise rotation motor so that's why I was leaning towards this route. I know I can get a car motor for short money... The boat is mostly used for just hanging out on fishing and beers. If anyone has any leads to a block or another motor even if it needs a freshening up it's ok. Let me know!! And thanks for the input