Egregious wrote:
*
Some old stuff is just plain good.* You can call it crap but it is still good as long as you don't try to compare it to something else that is new and different.
Some people like clinging to the past.* I don't.* I compare everything to new--- cameras, cars, planes, boats, engines, shoes, lawnmowers.** Old is old.* New is new and new is all I consider worth having unless I can't afford it, in which case I will "settle" for old.***But that doesn't mean I like it, it just means I can't or won't pay to buy something new.* And being out on the water powered by pathetic antiques of engines is better than not being out on the water at all.
If money were not a concern I would NEVER consider a boat with Lehmans in it.* Ever.* TO me buying a boat with Lehmans when you don't have to is like saying "I want to drive around the world and I think I'll buy a Model A Ford*to do it in."* Unless one is an old engine enthusiast, like the folks who are into preserving old cars, I cannot see any point whatsoever in screwing around with old Lehman, Perkins, etc. engines unless that is all one is willing to pay for (like me) in which case putting up with them is better than nothing.
But there is nothing anyone can say that will convince me that a Lehman is worth spit as an engine in today's world based on it's actual merits.* Only its cost--- or lack of cost--- makes it worth bothering with.
Like all of us, I have a lot of old stuff.* Old cars, old truck, old boats, old house, and so on.* If we could spare the money, we'd replace every single item with brand new.* Except my electric guitar.* But that's because it's worth, many, many times more than a new one.* The same cannot be said for a Lehman engine.
I should add that the stereotype of electronically controlled engines being unreliable and impossible to fix is total BS.* I know a lot of people with "electronic" diesels in their boats and they are*as or more reliable than Lehmans, Perkins, etc.* I see many more posts in boating forums about "My Lehman (or Perkins or some other ancient engine) won't start," or has some other malady than I do people complaining about problems with their*modern engines.* And in the few cases where someone I know has had a problem with their electronic engine, the problem was diagnosed in seconds by a plug-in engine analyzer and the fix took about five minutes which is how long it took to remove one "black box" and install a new one.
FF talks about electronic engine control like it's some sort of new-fangled voodoo idea.* Virtually every car on the road today has an electronically controlled engine.* Hell, the engine in my 1987 BMW is controlled by a computer.* And it's been VASTLY more reliable and*trouble-free*than the simple, carbureted, non-electronic, "super reliable"*engine in our Ford F-250 pickup.
-- Edited by Marin on Wednesday 18th of August 2010 08:37:38 PM
