Older Lehmans

[Shoalwaters]

Boatdiesel.com has data sheets on the 90 and 135 Lehmans, but no mention of the 80, 120 or others I have seen mentioned. Am I missing the obvious? In not, where should I look?

Mike

 

[Marin]

If you need information on any model of Ford Lehman the best place to ask is American Diesel. The founder, Bob Smith, was one of the engineers at Lehman Brothers that designed the original marinization kits for the Ford base engines that became the FL120, 135, etc. Bob's son runs the company today, although Bob still makes regular appearances at the shop, and his son's knowledge of the engines seems to be every bit as thorough as his dad's.

Bob makes regular appearances at various trawler fests and owners gatherings like the Grand Banks owners rendezvous. He has an FL120 on a stand that he brings with him that he runs and uses to illustrate the various aspects of operating and maintaining these engines.

Also, the Grand Banks Owners Forum (* http://www.grandbanksowners.com ) has operating, maintenance, and parts manuals for the FL120 and other variants of this engine in PDF form in the "Manuals" section of the site. I believe you have to join the forum to access these, but so far the forum is free to join.

-- Edited by Marin at 13:03, 2008-06-28

 

[Shoalwaters]

Thanks Marin. As usual your response is full of useful information. I think I'll nip over to the GB forum and sign up.

Mike

 

[2bucks]

Boat Diesel.com is often recommended as a good source for information. I spent the dollars and joined but was very disappointed to find as you did that there is little or no information on the 120 lehman. The specs sheets are totally void of information. The discussion lists seldom have anything to do with these dependable old diesels. I let my subscription lapse as I received virtually no good information from that site.

If you have other brands of engine your experience may vary, but for me and my 120 Lehman they were a total bust. (Oh, and there is no way to get your money back once you find this out)

Marins recommendation of the GB site is spot on. It seems like a majority of GB's came with Lehmans up until the "go fast" era. The owners there are very knowledgable and ready to help. Even if you do not own a GB the knowledge there is top notch. I fully intended to be a GB owner and started my pre-purchase research there. I never left, even though I wound up buying a different brand.

American Diesel is indeed the place to buy pieces or get help with a tricky problem. Every time I call, Bob personally answers the phone and talks to me as if we've been having coffee together before work every morning for the last 30 years. There is no better parts service available, IMHO.

Ken Buck

 

[FF]

Boat diesel is usually reccomended for the value of their in line prop /hp computer.

It makes a re power selection , or a cruising prop change quite EZ to do.

A Specific problem can be posted ,and most of the answers will have real life answers , from experienced folk in the field.

 

[rakoerber]

I have to agree. The folks at American Diesel are great!