Commander 26 Refit

Thunder21

Well-Known Member
I picked up this Commander back in September and you guys might remember me asking for advice on how much HP to go with etc. I ended up losing all the pictures of the glasswork but basically the original engines were twin Mercruisers so we started by filling the holes and glassing another inch to the inside of the transom. The Commanders transoms are 2.25 inches thick to start with but I figured a little more wouldn't hurt. Next I had a local guy build and paint a twin engine pod and I went shopping for a set of engines. I couldn't find a lower hour set of used outboards and I felt everything was either overpriced or had high hours so I decided to go new. I found a good deal on a set of new fly by wire Suzuki 200s. I wanted to go with something larger but I honestly couldn't pass up the price. To bump up to a 225 would have been 7k more per engine.



Heres a pic of when the pod and engines were first mounted


This is how it looks now. I've since installed a 12 inch Simrad Evo 3 at the lower helm and a 7 inch Simrad Evo 3 on the flybridge. I also added rear steering and a sonic hub 2 and a few speakers to the inside of the cabin. I' ve been going through everything making sure it all functions correctly and so far so good. The boat also came with a Espar diesel heater.


I've been playing around with props and have decided on the 18.5 Suzuki 3 blades. The boat honestly preforms awesome with these engines . I was a little unsure if the twin 4 bangers would be enough for this hull but it doesn't feel underpowered in the least. With a full tank of fuel I can cruise anywhere between 26-31 mph and the rpms are in the 3900-4500 range. The best mileage appears to be at 4200 RPM, 2.25MPG at 28MPH. This was on a calm day in the inlet. I've never seen a twin outboard 26 Commander so I was a bit nervous spending this much coin on a bit of a unknown but it turned out awesome and I couldn't be happier with it. Full disclosure, I cant take credit for any of the work. I basically just stroked a cheque for most if it, except the electronics install.
 
Sounds like a cool project. Photos aren't loading for some reason. Looking forward to seeing the photos and what the old engine room space looks like now.
 
Sounds like a cool project. Photos aren't loading for some reason. Looking forward to seeing the photos and what the old engine room space looks like now.
I had the photos set to private. Should work now.
 
Photos work now. Looks great. Great performance figures too. Were you able to get the old engine bay all cleaned up and re-purposed?
 
It is all cleaned up. I will snap some pictures of it and post them this afternoon. So far I haven’t done anything with it, but it will make a great storage area.
 
Sweet the EVO is a great unit and the Sonic Hub works really great. That is an awesome looking boat and fishing platform.
 
Heres a pic of how the engine room looks now. Its a bit dirty from standing down there but cleans up nice. I gained quite a bit of storage.


I snapped a few pictures of the inside too . These boats are definitely old school but with a 10'2" beam they have a lot of room inside.

Heres a pic of how the engine room looks now. Its a bit dirty from standing down there but cleans up nice. I gained quite a bit of storage.


I snapped a few pictures of the inside too . These
 
Hi there i really like what you have done with your 26 commander i have the same boat and
have decided to do the same thing -pod and twin 200 yam/suzi i have the motors out and legs off i’m cleaning up the engine bay and working on wiring ect do you have a contact
for karl fosey i’d like to get a quoat on the pod
also i’m curious if you were to do it all again is there anything different you would do ..
this is my first time on this site figuring how to navigate here ...
thanks in advance
Rob
 
Hi there i really like what you have done with your 26 commander i have the same boat and
have decided to do the same thing -pod and twin 200 yam/suzi i have the motors out and legs off i’m cleaning up the engine bay and working on wiring ect do you have a contact
for karl fosey i’d like to get a quoat on the pod
also i’m curious if you were to do it all again is there anything different you would do ..
this is my first time on this site figuring how to navigate here ...
thanks in advance
Rob
250 731 4679 is his number . The one thing I would change is I would have the pod built so the engines sat a few inches further back from the transom. The top half of the Commander transom steps over towards the outboards and because of this I can’t quite tilt the engines all the way out of the water. Other than that I probably wouldn’t change anything. If you ever want to come take a peek or go for a burn let me know. The boat is sitting in the water in Alberni.
 
Looks sharp with those new Zukes on the back.

Nice looking rig.
 
Back
Top