Podding a 24 ft advice needed

K

KMay

Member
Im thinking of taking on a older boat with a pod in mind. Anyone have a idea on what it costs to pod a boat like a hourston eagle or zeta filling all corresponding holes. I plan to get a professional to take on the whole project. Inboard will be out already.
Thanks in advance. The people and info on the site are priceless.
 
I converted a twin I/O to twin outboard. Glasswork was around 2k to fill the holes and add an inch to inside of transom. Painted twin engine pod with kicker mount was 2900$
 
Thunder21 said:
I converted a twin I/O to twin outboard. Glasswork was around 2k to fill the holes and add an inch to inside of transom. Painted twin engine pod with kicker mount was 2900$
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Awesome thanks for the info. Are you happy with the results?
 
You bet. It’s costly so I wouldn’t recommend it unless you plan to keep the boat awhile. Certain boats have a huge following so I would only do it to a well known and liked brand in case you ever need to sell. Otherwise you may take a bath on it.
 
I have pod'd 2 boats; 24 SeaRay with V8 I/O & 33 Chris with twin IB's. The Chris has hollow glass stringers so rot there was a non-issue but reenforcing the transom was a major issue as was patching all the holes, minor issue on the SeaRay. Make sure the transom/springers/deck are sound with a good surveyor; better yet find a boat that didn't use wood in the stringers.
For a V8 I/O you will be cutting the power plant weight in half or so & placing the new weight farther aft. The length the bracket extends back from the transom SHOULD be calculated as a function go boat length - on the Chris it is 4 feet. The Chris just got finished, so i have little experience. The SeaRay was INCREDIBLE; raised the stern, dropped the bow so the boat ran more parallel to the water. At 50mph it would skip across 2-3ft chop on inland waters. 250HP V8 to a 250HP 2 stroke Yamaha; gained 10MPH top speed.
Thunder21 said:
You bet. It’s costly so I wouldn’t recommend it unless you plan to keep the boat awhile. Certain boats have a huge following so I would only do it to a well known and liked brand in case you ever need to sell. Otherwise you may take a bath on it.
Click to expand...
Best advise you will get; in US dollars new OB's are close to $100 per HP. On an older boat you may well need to replace MUCH more than the power plant.
Make sure the boat podder can engineer as well as weld.

FYI I got the 250 OB used for a great deal. Didn't need that much power. If you are in the open ocean & running with LARGE swells it takes LOTS of power to climb up & over them - otherwise depending on how/where you boat get an engine that you can troll on as kickers are less than optimal for boat control in wind
 
Last edited:
ericl said:
I have pod'd 2 boats; 24 SeaRay with V8 I/O & 33 Chris with twin IB's. The Chris has hollow glass stringers so rot there was a non-issue but reenforcing the transom was a major issue as was patching all the holes, minor issue on the SeaRay. Make sure the transom/springers/deck are sound with a good surveyor; better yet find a boat that didn't use wood in the stringers.
For a V8 I/O you will be cutting the power plant weight in half or so & placing the new weight farther aft. The length the bracket extends back from the transom SHOULD be calculated as a function go boat length - on the Chris it is 4 feet. The Chris just got finished, so i have little experience. The SeaRay was INCREDIBLE; raised the stern, dropped the bow so the boat ran more parallel to the water. At 50mph it would skip across 2-3ft chop on inland waters. 250HP V8 to a 250HP 2 stroke Yamaha; gained 10MPH top speed.

Best advise you will get; in US dollars new OB's are close to $100 per HP. On an older boat you may well need to replace MUCH more than the power plant.
Make sure the boat podder can engineer as well as weld.

FYI I got the 250 OB used for a great deal. Didn't need that much power. If you are in the open ocean & running with LARGE swells it takes LOTS of power to climb up & over them - otherwise depending on how/where you boat get an engine that you can troll on as kickers are less than optimal for boat control in wind
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Thanks dor the info. I just pulled the trigger on a 24 zeta last night.
 
KMay said:
Thanks dor the info. I just pulled the trigger on a 24 zeta last night
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There is a thread on zeta boats on here from 2008 - looks like Zeta marine may be still in business in Van? FYI the builder said that rotten stringers are a non-issue as they used so much glass in them. Saw a picture of a 24 fly-bridge; darn good lookin boat.
 
ericl said:
There is a thread on zeta boats on here from 2008 - looks like Zeta marine may be still in business in Van? FYI the builder said that rotten stringers are a non-issue as they used so much glass in them. Saw a picture of a 24 fly-bridge; darn good lookin boat.
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Thanks! Thats good to hear about the stringers.
 
KMay said:
Thanks! Thats good to hear about the stringers.
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Hey KMay I just picked up a Zeta 24 as well.
It’s going to to need a little love before spring but is in OK shape (mostly odd wiring issues and such).
Got a huge 454 w 4 barrel and Bravo 3 leg so am a little worried about obscene fuel burn but still pretty excited about it.
I’m a trawler guy familiar with 8 knot diesels so this is a whole new world for me.
Where are you located?
I’d like to have a look at your project
 
Trawler guy said:
Hey KMay I just picked up a Zeta 24 as well.
It’s going to to need a little love before spring but is in OK shape (mostly odd wiring issues and such).
Got a huge 454 w 4 barrel and Bravo 3 leg so am a little worried about obscene fuel burn but still pretty excited about it.
I’m a trawler guy familiar with 8 knot diesels so this is a whole new world for me.
Where are you located?
I’d like to have a look at your project
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Im in Campbell River. Im picking the boat up today. Let the project begin. I just had the inboard and leg taken out. What year is your zeta?
 
It’s a 1980.
The details of when the engine and outdrive was installed are a little vague so not sure about that. Engine is pretty clean and starts up in the driveway rally well but hasn’t been in the water for three years.
The previous owner had contacted Mike Hutcheson about something a few years back and relayed the same information about the stringers that ericl said regarding the amount of glass in these things. The cutout from my transom when the new outdrive was out is close to 2”; serious stuff!
 
Trawler guy said:
It’s a 1980.
The details of when the engine and outdrive was installed are a little vague so not sure about that. Engine is pretty clean and starts up in the driveway rally well but hasn’t been in the water for three years.
The previous owner had contacted Mike Hutcheson about something a few years back and relayed the same information about the stringers that ericl said regarding the amount of glass in these things. The cutout from my transom when the new outdrive was out is close to 2”; serious stuff!
Click to expand...
Mine is in the driveway now. I will post pictures soon.
 
I converted my wellcraft 25 coastal from Inboard to 300 suzuki absolutely love it there is a lot of underlying cost though I ended up having everything rewired while it was apart in the end don’t regret it for a second!!
 
bryce said:
I converted my wellcraft 25 coastal from Inboard to 300 suzuki absolutely love it there is a lot of underlying cost though I ended up having everything rewired while it was apart in the end don’t regret it for a second!!
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Bryce, you got to post of picture of your conversion, outside and inside where dog house was. DAJ
 
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