Can a Briggs & Stratton industrial engine be used to replace an Atomic Four?
I’ve spent a lot of time trying to determine the best Atomic Four replacement engine for my customers. Air-cooled engines are noisy and give off a lot of heat – which makes the boat hot, and they’re hard to cool when mounted in the engine compartment of a sail boat. Water-cooled 3 cylinder Briggs & Stratton Vanguard engines (made by Daihatsu) are available in gas, diesel, and propane. Propane is a possibility because a lot of sailboats have a propane tank for stove & heaters, but really the only viable engine type is a diesel… getting rid of the gasoline engine is a major reason many people replace their Atomic Four (the major reasons to want a diesel are safety, offshore range, and the fact the boat increases in value/the boat is easier to sell). The Vanguard diesel looks like a nice little engine, but once you get finished marinizing it you won’t save any money over just buying a standard production diesel marine engine, the diesel is more expensive than the gasoline version. Weste
