Pearson 365 and 367

My aging 1976 Westerbeke 4-108 was rebuilt in the Bahama's 100 hours ago and still has too much grey smoke for my liking, I am looking at swapping the engine with a rebuilt Perkins 4-108 (1983) Same block but the water jacket, heat exchange unit and exhaust are very different - has anyone out there every had experience with this? The biggest problem seems to be the exhaust on the Perkins is exiting at the back rather than the front of the engine and needs to be modified. Did Perkins make a replacement unit that will allow the exhaust to exit via the front of the engine or can I swap  out the parts from the exhaust and heat exchanger parts from the Westerbeke and install them on the Perkins ? My Westerbeke also has an oil cooler and the Perkins does not, should this be a concern? Last option pull the Westerbeke and sleeve the pistons and check the values everything else is new.

I've checked this option out and the $11,000.00 is just the start can you believe I've had two quotes of $20,000.00 +- for the install and modifications - forget it unless you have deep pockets or lots of skills

I have owned my 365 for 10 years and have sailed launched and sailed it in Canada, USA and Bahamas - every time I have the boat hauled or lifted using a travel-lift, the correct location for the aft strap becomes an issue. I recently sustained about $5000.00 damage to the prop, shaft and strut when having the boat hauled in Florida. This is not the first time that the shaft has been damaged or bent. When the boat was in it's home port in Canada, the water was clear and the lifting strap was visible. My home port yard placed the aft strap at a strange angle catching the keel at a point just below where the shaft enters the hull -  the boat is then lifted at a strange angle to prevent the strap from sliding up and catching the shaft, more than once the strap has been in contact with the shaft and the boat must be lowered and the strap lifting point adjusted, hopefully with no damage to the shaft. This rather imperfect lifting technique was used by several yards in the Canada, USA and the Bahamas and the shaft was damage twice and had to be straightened, not expensive but painful to watch nevertheless.

However, three years ago when I moved the boat to Florida the yard decided that it would be better to lift the boat by inserting the aft strap forward of the rudder, hopefully missing the prop up to a point just behind the strut. This works well when launching the boat as the lift point is easy to locate, however when pulling the boat from the water this is a very tricky procedure. The water at the marina is river water and is very muddy, zero visibility so the strap location is pure guess work and the last time the boat was lifted the strap caught the prop, bending the shaft, strut and is now in for repairs (very expensive !) In order to prevent this happening again I would like to know how other 365 owners lift go about lifting their boats and the preferred strap location etc.

Richard Walls
World Spectator