I know nothing about boats, but it looks to be analogous to the fairly typical car that's been neglected and needs restoration.  I understand that you don't want to take it on, but please at least try to find it a good home, rather than scrapping it, if that is the plan.



Lawrenceville, GA

Is it possible that someone just fitted that engine because that is what they had, or sourced, or was left over from an older dual engine boat?
I can't imagine any other reason to fit a reverse direction engine in a single engine boat unless it was just a cheaper option.
I raced displacement hulls for many years and the engine rotation does not affect the steering. You can set a boat up exactly as they would set a Nascar up to turn however you want it.



Gary - 1958 Star Customline and 1940 Ford Deluxe Hotrod

That being the case why do all dual engine boats have counter rotating props,i have bin around boats for the last 50years and have not found 1 exception. And yes you can set up a single engine so it runs strait ,but when it runs strait the ruder is slightly off centre in the strt ahead position.I do agree that there is no reason to have a counter c.w. engine in a single engine boat .most likely when larger dual eng boats wher re powered the orphan c.c.wise was cheap and hard to ger rid of. ther must have bin thousands of the y block marine  engines built ,as you still hear of some for sale. The newer diesel powered yachts have bothe engines runing c.wise but 1 reverse gear is in reverse with linkage so when bothe levers ar forwerd 1 gear is really in reverse. wher i worked we supplyd engines for a builder most had the engines aft with v drives ,same deal the 1 gear forwerd 2nd opposite. this was with cat and perkkins pleasure craft rated engines ,walters drives ,borgwarner reverce gears
    one isue  i am unsure of is some aplications props turned inward and oposit. some turned outwerd and oposit.Hopfulley some one can help us on that

This is a rare boat and is completely original aside from the Buick steering wheel. 1962 Triumph 18' sport run about built by Storecrafters Inc. The engine is a right hand rotation 312 Interceptor 215hp with dual side draft carbs and mounted backwards in the boat with a right handed prop. Borg Warner Velvet Drive and a reverse box. The best I can figure is that they wanted the weight in the rear as opposed to mid mounted for higher speed stability. I found the son of one of the original engineers and employees of Storecrafters boat division and spoke with him on the phone a few years back. Cool guy. I would love to find it a home where it could get the proper restoration that it deserves. Any volunteers please feel free to chime in! I will work with somebody that wants to step up to the plate and really do it. The price would be very reasonable and I could hold it for a bit if somebody is serious(within reason of course).

Twin engine boats obviously have the props closer to each side so in that application having both screws going in the same rotation would cause some steering issues and possible even porpoising, but I think it is more to do with harmonics than anything else.
Would it not be easier to just have an idler gear in the drive train to reverse the prop direction on one of the pair rather than to redesign an engine?
Probably not as if it was this easy then this would be the case, but no there must be other forces at play than just prop directional rotation.
In a single engine application it doesn't matter which way the engine rotates.
Most social ski boats are mid engined with a straight shaft and dog clutch or velvet drive. When you move up to ski or circuit race boat then the engine is usually a rear mount running through a Vee box hence the same engine is now spinning the prop shaft in the opposite direction and requiring a L/H prop.
Both boats operate perfectly as they were designed and steer and handle correctly despite spinning the prop shafts in opposite directions.

I would still tend to hypothesise that this engine was made available at a price that couldn't be refused from a cancelled order or a previous twin engine boat.


Gary - 1958 Star Customline and 1940 Ford Deluxe Hotrod

That is very possible, especially considering that the 1962 boat ran a 1957-8 312. The company was only in the boat business for a few years and the machines they designed were pretty ahead of their time. This boat ran about 50mph on the water and supposedly could do a full throttle U-turn in a radius the length of the hull. I'm told it would pull a skier out at about a quarter throttle. It was a good friends uncles, then his dad's. He has told me some stories. It had a wooden plaque on the rear that said JOKER.

When two or more props are involved, then counter rotation helps to compensate for the magnified torque thrust that would be present if the props were simply rotating the same direction.  Air planes with dual (or more) engines also have counter rotating props and this goes all the way back to the Wright Brothers with their first flight which had dual props.  The Wright Brothers had this figured out before ever making their first attempt to get their plane off the ground.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

modern dual engine boats have clockwise rotating engines,with 1gear in reverse  to acomplish what you stated. modern reverse gears have same size clutches for forwerd and reverse. with vdrives you still need 1rev 1 forwerd.cat  or perkins do not make cc engines,in the marine  world. 

Gary, good luck with this ! chuckle.



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