Can you put a Car Engine in a Boat?

7 years ago, a video of a 2.8 VW VR6 GTI Engine swapped into a boat was posted on VWvortex and KZbin. It was an excellent build, but over the years, it has faded into obscurity. We tracked down the Owner (Reed Windmiller) of this build to finally let him tell the story behind BoatsWagen, his VR6 Engine Swapped Boat. (1967 Silverline)
Reed's Orginal Video - • boatswagen
Boatswagen the VR6 boat build thread - VW Vortex
www.vwvortex.com/threads/boat...
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[@yeahitskimmel]

Kinda funny how perfect the sound and power of a VR6 are darn well matched to a boat and nobody else noticed

[@jedimasternaylor4967]

I did 😍

[@commodoresixfour7478]

With boat engines it's all about torque and the right prop.

[@Broncofivepointslow]

To a tiny boat* and any other engine with similar power would work*

[@joebone3151]

@@Broncofivepointslow but is it a vr6 from a corrado

[@slowstang88]

Nothing beats the badass sound of a V8

[@dubsessed9790]

This VR6 engine got one of the coolest "second" lives ever.

[@MrJef06]

Indeed. He even said the heat exchanger was oversized so yeah... the engine is running cool! 😎😉😀

[@NeverEnoughPyro40]

@ MrJef06 And And you think that is a good thing? That is the problem with KZbin, One idiot does something and everyone thinks it is a great idea! Half of his electronics are not working and the boat only goes 35 mph, That is a lot of time and money spent on a boat that that not only does not work properly but is a time bomb waiting to explode, Not to mention all of the Coast Guard laws that monstrosity has violated!

[@vwbr3nt]

"It's the best way to get Volkswagen noises in my life right now..." I 100% agree, what a badass project. PLEASE do an update when supercharged!!

[@hirthirthirt1693]

Why would anyone have volkswagen noise in his life????

[@vinnyirish]

If he dressed like a pirate he could call it an AARRR 32!

[@coolmike41]

Aaaaaar Line

[@jacobusdegroot7557]

Good one.

[@jontait1095]

Brilliant

[@410kane]

Hahaha

[@druckerman247]

Matey!

[@Whateverpoopiepants]

That speed sensor for the engine has a colossal impact on the engine calculating ignition advance and fuel economy. It’s costing you a fortune and losing you performance, get it connected. absolutely killer , love it .

[@MrPhatties]

Yep and you can set the redline limit in the ecu

[@brickson98m]

Couldn’t it all just be tuned out with a custom ECU?

[@storejoshuprite]

@@brickson98m Not really. No matter what you use for an ecu, you need engine speed, cam/crank position and engine loading to calculate ignition and fuel timing. Getting the gauge to work correctly would be a matter of getting a signal converter for the tach or using an older stock one that isn't at least partially controlled by a body control module.

[@A_Guy123]

Always cool seeing people’s projects working out

[@NeverEnoughPyro40]

@B9.5 S5 what has he accomplished? Not only is that boat slow none of the electronics are working properly, Or how about all of the USCG laws that tub of crap has violated! Just because it is running in a 10 minute video it does not mean it is successful, Until everything is working 100% and he can pass all of the USCG laws that boat is a failure!

[@Power5]

So glad it is a 12v, best sounding VR. Can't wait to see it with a charger.

[@ghomerhust]

anyone who said a VR6 wouldnt work as a boat motor is nuts. theres lots of torque, not that heavy vs the footprint. ive run tons of these motors in all kinds of stuff. love em man that is a sweet little hull he has there. looks classic, but makes the best wookie noises! excellent little floater

[@groenekever]

Vw did this.. also turbo diesel vw engines . And aircooled marine engines

[@lawnmowerdude]

I’ve literally seen Weedwhackers as boat engines so I don’t know why torque would be an issue.

[@MrTheHillfolk]

I mean,VW did design it to fit in the place of a 4 cylinder,so I see no problem here.

[@jacquespoirier9071]

you can fit any automotive engine in a boat as long you're able to design and fabricate a cooling system and a water jacketed exhaust manifold. the problem when you use a modern engine is that the management system is integrated to the car management system and the engine can't easily use its original in car management system. of course, you can use an aftermarket management system but it needs a lot of tuning effort and it costa an arm and a leg !

[@NeverEnoughPyro40]

@ Ghomer Hust So You think the people that said it would not work are nuts? I think all of you KZbin mechanics and their followers are nuts! None of his gauges are working, The engine is not running properly because no speed sensor, A ton of money and countless hours wasted as well as all of the USCG laws that boat violates!

[@roberthargrave573]

Brilliant video, nice to see a VR6 engine powering a speed boat along nicely Regards from Paris France. 🇫🇷

[@richardpope2114]

Very competent mechanic that is making it sound easy so he is not blowing his own trumpet but a lot of work and a lot of skill to get this running Hats off to him

[@jontait1095]

I still have a golf vr6 30 year old still going great. Love how you got a vr6 in your boat. I have also seen a vr6 power a helicopter no joke

[@Gh0sTlyD3th]

I'd love to see a VR6 powered Helicopter!

[@jontait1095]

@@Gh0sTlyD3th it's on you tube. It's quite an old video so quality is not great

[@coreymugaas6388]

merCruiser tech here, outstanding work! I appreciate the work you have in the water jacketed exhaust, closed cooling system, and flywheel adapter.

[@joshuahenry7482]

This is one of the coolest things I've ever seen.

[@price8314]

I assembled boats for Blazer boats for a long time, like 7 years, you did a great job with this, l absolutely love it and it sounds awesome and is really unique!!

[@l00tur]

That flat toque curve of the VR would be perfect for a boat

[@aygwm]

The torque curve of a VR is not remotely flat

[@jeremycovelli]

@@aygwm not to mention the gearing in the stern drive also makes it completely different, and the prop, and the trim, and even the water temp... torque doesn't work the same way on boats as it does cars..

[@hv9356]

I agree, it does start off with a lot of Torque. Boats need more low end torque to get going...

[@l00tur]

@@aygwm 2500 to 7000 it’s flat, the 12v 2.8 is literally as flat as a motor can be for torque. Might want to look at the hundreds of dyno sheets plastered all over Google to confirm.

[@SmokedRubber]

This is amazing! As a VR6 GTI owner, this makes me excited and inspired! Great work 👏

[@roryfreeman9433]

Great installation and really sounds good. Love the vintage hull, planes beautifully.

[@aroundomaha]

This came out of left field -- awesome. Great build and a great back story.

[@bartmaster1234]

This is some amazing work. I’ve never seen such detail on a swap like this.

[@jetirex]

What an epic project! Wookies on the water :)

[@caveone-365]

I've played with the thought of throwing a spare non vanos m50 running an hx35 and ms3 into a boat. All you really need is a junk hull and a way to adapt the crank via an automatic drive plate to a short shaft in the transom area. Its an awesome idea an not too hard. Thanks for sharing bro, sick ass swap/ build!!👍👍😎

[@nickscivic]

It's about time you made this beast known brother!! Been far to many years since I saw that paper weight 4 cylinder get yanked out with a vr just waiting in your garage to go in!!

[@bryanhorne8202]

Beautiful boat!!! I had a 69 Silverline with a 150 hp Chrysler inboard motor that looked like it came out of a school bus (big motor). It ran very well. Had a Volvo Penta outdrive and had the trailer tilt but no trim. Wish I had it again. I was very impressed with the strength of the hull and the design. Hang on to it!!!!!

[@wtfyoguylol]

I absolutely love this thing !! Love that sound

[@lioneluhlmann9200]

you are a legend. sounds amazing. looks great in there. the boat you chose matches this thing perfectly...it is just too fun not to have a bad asss power plant. thank you for this.

[@Kandres027]

Glad to see detail kept on all aspects of the boat.

[@Hikaru_owl]

Omg this was the coolest thing I’ve seen in a while please post more about this boat I would love to see it super charged

[@julianmckinnon7615]

That is a very cool example of DIY engineering. Fabulous looking boat. As cool older cars get more expensive and the places to get lairy in a car without getting huge fines (particularly in Victoria, Aust where I live ) get harder to find, I am not surprised more people are turning to cool old boats to have fun in. They also have way less regulation around them (again especially in Australia). If you want to put a blown big block in your old fishing boat there is no rules preventing you. Again well done.

[@RichieRouge206]

What a great conversion - sounds fantastic

[@mack8488]

Things like this allways baffle me.....the ingenuity and amount of work..👌

[@mcgo0097]

Loved having a 3.6 VR6! Great combination of power and fuel economy.

[@Lightsbyare]

You Sir. have made my abosulte dream boat. Love the hull and always loved the VR. Congrats from Norway

[@kenney5454]

Great Looking Work And It Sounds Good, I'm Impressed. Back When I Repowered My 242 LS Formula I was Told by the Marine Mechanic During My Swap "Boat Engines run Constant Duty so No Stokers Like 383 / 400 Chevy Small Blocks and 4 Bolt Main Bearings

[@Fopeano]

I missed this entirely when it was posted. Thanks for making the effort to bring this back up.

[@doloresberry3144]

The dudes boat has me looking for vr6s on Facebook 💀

[@acefighterpilot]

So glad you found this guy!

[@Walt_B]

Love the looks and the sound. Good job!

[@user-ij6xs4ut7j]

Love it! Sweet little boat. I appreciate your ingenuity. Sounds good too!

[@ShakaTechnique]

To answer the title, yes. That’s how most inboard cigarette boats are powered. Nothing new. Cool conversion! Beautiful boat.

[@Chr.U.Cas1622]

👍👌👏 Simply fantastic! I absolutely love especially the roaring sound. Even better than a V8 conversion. Additionally way less thirsty and much lighter. Thanks a lot for making teaching explaining recording editing uploading and sharing. Best regards luck and health.

[@SteveKemper]

So glad people like this exist. Such a cool project.

[@glennoropeza3545]

Excellent marriage! Love vintage boats and yes I like the narrow V engine's from VW. I'd love to see a W12 conversion!

[@kipmyers5897]

Super nice job I'm impressed ....I've owned alot of inboards and love em but with age my hobby is surface drive Jon boats as well as anything Jon..I have one 302 inboard drive train in hopes to find a ole boat like this....truely classic street rod approach to boating...I love it!!!

[@robbievangeenenNL]

Awesome sound. Makes me grin from ear to ear.

[@rondellschuyler7074]

Love your beautiful classic and the enginuity you did to make it work.

[@vwjoem]

Great project, good luck on the water. Sounds perfect.

[@picernjm]

Absolutely love these types of videos. Liked and shared!

[@cfltitan]

Love it!! The VR6 is one of the best sounding and smooth revving motors ever made. Hod I miss the dem and sound of mine. I had a 95 Jetta and a 96 GTI both VR6’s with nice exhausts on them. They always had a nice Ferrari V12 sound to them. Very exotic for sure. And man for the late 90’s they sure had some power to them. I used to rip up all the Honda/Acura boys in my town with mine. Especially my Jetta. That had the most work done and a nice little 100 shot of nitrous.

[@brettsalzl9781]

Dude I said it. I need a VR back in my life! This is so awesome. What a jem bro!

[@EYE_SPIDER]

That is such an awesome boat!

[@rickreid81]

Excellent idea!!! Great sounding VR6 Boat!

[@timboslice3294]

I’m a big Vw fan I had a mk2 vr6 swap man do I miss it. That boat is badass

[@oldschool8432]

Love the matching dock chair an boat. Sweet build

[@bsautospa2957]

If I didn't know the boat and heard it going down the water, I would definitely stand there scratching my head in wonder lol neat build

[@abbaby555]

Well done, very nice conversion 👍👍

[@brickson98m]

Most badass boat I’ve seen. V8’s are cool and all, but this is unique! Wookie in the water!

[@sonofstinkfoot9551]

ALSO THOSE OLD FIBERGLASS BOATS AN THEIR BUILD MATERIALS IN THE 60`S ARE SUUUUUPER!! HEAVY I BET THE BOAT AN MOTOR WEIGH MORE THAN THE CAR IT CAME OUT OF!!. I HAD A 69 16 FT CUTTER WITH CADILLAC STYLE WINGS WEIGHED A TON! GOD BLESS YOU ALL BE SAFE!

[@lewisvacek1976]

what a fantastic sound... Simply Brilliant.

[@json8172]

so rad, thanks for sharing this!!!

[@keeledover4218]

i’m a boat mechanic and a vw mechanic aircool vw and water cooled vw audi and diesel marine engines totally love this !

[@FSHSKainon]

The Tach was set for a 4cyl, yet you have a 6cyl, there is an adjustment on the back of the tach, 4/6/8 the throttle cable is push/pull, that little lever is for "Warming up" the engine because that throttle doesn't have a "Neutral" like other newer throttle/shift boxes. for the temp, on your engine you have a temp sender for cooling fans which in the car was just an on off and you also had a coolant "sensor" that sent the temp to the ECU, just need to get a sender for a typical Merc/OMC Temp Gauge then the other side just gets 12v, the sender actually adjusts resistance to ground. Looks Great !! Sounds Excellent !!

[@daisy8luke]

Dude, that is bad ass ! You're idle to on-plane time looks to be just under 5 seconds. That's like jet ski performance !

[@lepowell9095]

What a darn good job looks like a ton of fun.

[@reidster87]

With the water-jacketed exhaust, this VR6 sounds like a wookie with a Scottish accent!

[@samgraham4168]

Awesome piece of work! And very fitting that he'[s equipped his boat with an anchor too 😏

[@nowake]

Hahaha first thing I thought of 😅

[@Johan-fw8re]

Super cool idea, and you pulled it of!! Bravo 😀👍

[@engina1572]

So awesome thanks for showing

[@vwaudiwelder]

My goodness what a remarkable machine!!! Now get out there and catch some delicious bass.

[@jcsrst]

Boatswagen is the BEST name EVER! Very clever!

[@ethanlewis7847]

Very creative build!

[@alho5512]

Beautiful boat! And this Sound is perfect .... 😃

[@REALBanannaman]

TDI boat when?

[@jenny80myles]

That's too easy. VW actually made TDI Marine engines a few years back.

[@bobjakubowski1024]

Cool build well done.

[@rudolfopadilla535]

The wookie hits the water just fine, I love it

[@dimi3391]

Omg. That engine sound! 😍😍😍

[@brettkear2933]

Genius project.... Well done

[@Andrico77]

Nice work and lots of it!!

[@camo8752]

It does sound great👍🏻 i always loved the cigarette boats and sound V8 because of the continious rev

[@chloeleedow7250]

Sounds gorgeous 😍

[@zZWolfyZz]

Interesting little build with forced induction for more torque I'd regear that mercruiser outdrive I had a 3 ton cabin cruiser years ago a 25ft bayliner that would do 70 or so on the water after regearing the out drive it had a 235horse 350 v8 and she get up on plane very quickly maybe 10 feet or so this thing could fly with a regear but even like it is it's a super cool project and bow youve got me looking at boats again haha

[@kennethalbert4653]

Those were some Magic baffles ! Sounds amazing !

[@michaeljohnson4004]

Great work sir.

[@SyTySpeedShop]

Sweet boat! Nice job!

[@jacquespoirier9071]

30 years ago, I done something very similar, I swapped a Ford cologne 2.8 liter on a Volvo Penta Aquamatic 100 drive to replace a 1600cc Volvo B16 engine that was unrebuildable. The swap involved an adapter plate, custom built water jacketed exhaust manifold, sealing the starter and the ignition distributor and designing a raw water cooling system. it have been a fun project and , for a mechanicall inclined person as a hot rodder, I can recommend to do it. In terms of performance, smoothness and reliability, that swap have very satisfying for the 25 years that I owned that boat .This boat have been scrapped due to the advanced rotting of the stucture. knowing what I know today, I'd restored that boat.

[@AJB273]

This is the most beautiful thing I've seen this year

[@LewisJD33911]

I knew this was excellent in the first 10 seconds. Rock and Roll.

[@horNNN_]

what an awesome project. i love this thing.

[@spatsny45]

nice job !your boat is unique for sure.

[@Tminus89]

Of course you can, it has been done thousands of times. Don't really get the title, clicked to hear the VR6 sing though so you still got me

[@ShortsStockton]

Good job man never let them doubt you

[@OzcarMike641]

Nice work !

[@paulg3012]

Beautiful job man.

[@harvyss136]

Silverline boats built in Moorhead Mn. I grew up about a mile away from the plant. Had a Silverline '74 tri hull at one time! Lots of good times!

[@pietropisani7374]

Video is really cool... BUT technically EVERY boat I/O engine apart from the last generation of Mercruisers is an automotive engine modified to have raw water cooling and power a stern drive 😂 So the answer has always been YES, you can put a car engine in a boat

[@tomstanley7772]

And inboard gas engines as well are Car/Truck engines. As well as the Diesel Engines are mostly truck engines modified for marine use.

[@Hugh_Manitee]

A marinized motor in a boat has a different fuel pump. On a car, when the fuel pump fails, the gas leaks on the ground. Okay with a car. It let's you know theres a problem. With a boat, that can be a fatal explosion. A marinize motor fuel pump dumps the fuel into the block. You should always make a check of engine oil while operating the bilge blower 5 minutes before starting. If the oil level gets higher on the dipstick, your fuel pump is bad.

[@6-Iron]

I've heard that marine versions of small blocks have different cams and cranks. Maybe someone can verify this.

[@Hugh_Manitee]

@@6-Iron Fuel pump is definitely different.

[@NeverEnoughPyro40]

@6-Iron Depending on the engine internal components are different, In automotive engine spends most of its life below 2500 RPMs while marine engines spends most of their life above 4000 RPMs! Automotive engines are not meant to be under constant load at high RPMs for hours on end, Not to mention all of the Coast Guard regulated components that must be installed in order for your boat to be compliant!

[@OldDirtGuy]

Looks like you could gin up a teak platform over the engine and have a perfect walkway. Leave some gaps between the boards and it would ventilate. It might not shed rain all that well. But most of a large wave would.

[@thunter3507]

Best sounding boat , this boat has Mojo . Looks fun to rip around in for sure .

[@dulcevendetta]

totally awesome build

[@karaDee2363]

Great job and it sounds good too...

[@chrisfarr5909]

Very cool project!