Fit For New Adventures

For those considering an upgrade rather than purchasing a new boat, Kevin Smith tests the Mustang 2400 (1986) after its Nanni Diesel Refit

For new and used boat sales, 2020 was no doubt a wild year, as well as for a whack of refurbs and refits. I’ve never seen so many boats and fishermen on the water. It’s great, a well-deserved win for the manufacturers and dealers out there. So, if it is time for an upgrade, the big question would be buying new, or pumping some money into your existing rigs without overcapitalising? 

REVIVING THE CLASSICS

A quick look at the boat: this Mustang was purchased as an unfinished project and with the paint and internal structural works already done, it was only Steve’s magic touch needing to be added to the internal layout, and of course, the new Nanni diesel motor set up and refit needing to be done. At 34 years old, boats like these generally end up as landfill somewhere, so it’s pretty cool to see an old girl like this coming out of retirement for a new facelift and body. 

Rather than pumping money into the aesthetics and layout, Steve kept it fairly simple throughout, adding custom box-styled seating with storage, a new engine box and bunk with new cushions and padding throughout. A few tackle storage boxes were installed, raised battery hatches, a decent bimini cover, and electric flushing head to the small cabin. The decks are a standard fleck-styled gel coat to make cleaning easier.

At the time of the test, Steve was still working out the finer details onboard and later added a few more items that we didn’t get to see. These included a new Dometic CFX3-45, a Baitmate TD700RM bait-board/tackle station with rod holders installed behind the engine box, as well as a Sherpa ‘Grunter’ electric winch to the trailer with wireless remote to simplify trailering the two-tonne beast.

A full refit like this could cost you $50–$100k

THE ALL-IMPORTANT REFIT

Onto the important motor refit business. Well, straight up, I liked the raised engine box with dual access. It is hinged, allowing full access to the meticulously fitted 265hp Nanni Diesel, as well as having quick view access via the top lid. It’s most certainly a welcoming and exciting piece of motor to look at and nothing beats a clean and precision sterndrive motor setup like this. Now, these motors are a Toyota engine base, boasting the typical reliability and performance found in Toyota motors.

The Z4.270 4-cylinder turbocharged with intercooler model, as fitted, sports some renowned torque and grunt, stemming from the high-spec 265hp/194.9kW at the crank, a displacement of 2.982L, with electronically controlled high-pressure common rail and direct injection, as well as a healthy 668.5Nm of peak torque at around 2000rpm. The 100 Amp 12V alternator and closed cooling with heat exchanger are also nice features and available transmissions to match include Bravo X1, 2 or 3 models. In this case, the Bravo X3 with 1.8:1 ratio was matched and installed to suit the Mustang 2400.

At the helm, the controls included a standard cable steering connected to engine-driven power steering pump (a standard merc cruiser part), along with side mount control box and dedicated digital Nanni engine monitoring gauge system. I did have a chuckle at the 2009 Raymarine chart-plotter/sounder still on the boat. Reading at over 10 knots extra on the speed, yeah, that one can go to the tip and be replaced with a nice new system.

Custom box-style seating with new cushions

CRUISING TIME

On the water, the Mustang 2400 gets a serious torquing to, with powerful hole-shot getting you onto the plane effortlessly and feeling more like a wakeboarding boat’s V8 grunt. Revs sit at around 2000 with the turbo just making itself known, along with a speed of 18 knots and sweet economy of 16L per hour. Easing the throttle to 2500rpm, there’s a significant jump to 27 knots, and again with a super light economy of 21.6L per hour. The turbo torque is really responsive in the mid-range; however, I will say that she was quite noisy and only due to the engine box still requiring the full insulation to be installed. Pushing it to flat stick, the turbo quietens down and at 3660rpm (WOT), you get a healthy 42 knots speed and economy of 52.6L per hour. Again, that’s really light on fuel in comparison to a 250–300hp petrol outboard.

Dropping back down to idle speeds, the economy caught my eye again as just in gear at 730rpm, you sit at around 5 knots speed and sip at a ridiculously good 1.7L per hour. Six hours of live-bait trolling at that speed would use a ridiculously low 10.2L of diesel. A higher troll speed between 8 and 9 knots would use around 10L per hour. Again, nice and economical. 

Overall driving, well, it was interesting going back to an old design of fair deadrise and less flare on the outer chines. The old battle axe Mustang was a bit tender on the stability side and banked a bit into turns, but still sported a nice soft ride that’s well suited to the mongrel short chop frequented in the bays. At the helm, the power assisted steering with side-mount box also made for a comfortable drive. 

With the mustang weighing in at around 2 tonnes, the 265hp Nanni diesel is a really nice match and the overall performance was impressive to say the least. Coupled with a 200L fuel tank, you are most certainly going to get some serious range at standard cruise speeds — this being well suited to Steve’s future adventures out to the distant reefs off 1770 and the like. So, what other benefits are there in switching to a modern Nanni high-powered diesel stern drive? Well, an upgraded refit will create many more years of life for your boat, undoubtedly add to performance, and be easier and more economical to service. 

Partway through the refit

WRAP

If you are due for an inboard/stern drive upgrade from your old petrol or even putting a new boat together, the Nanni diesel upgrade would most certainly be a no-brainer. Now, like everything to do with boats, there are costs involved and a full refit like this could set you back anything from $50–$100k, depending on motor and leg choice, plus all the other bells and whistles to go along with it. At the end of the day, it’s all about new replacement costs versus the refit cost without overcapitalising. Again, if you go the refit route, you are going to create many more years of life for your boat, as well as have easier and more economical servicing. You are beefing up the performance, along with potentially still maintaining a decent value down the line.

Nanni Stern Drive packages are ideally suitable to the larger plate-alloy boats looking for a diesel option, as well as all the common petrol inboards, like Caribbean, Bayliner and Four Winds, and all larger cruisers to mention a few. Refits would require the standard legs suited to petrol to be swapped out, as they won’t handle the diesel torque. 

The Nanni diesel refit includes all the trimmings

FACTS & FIGURES

GENERAL

Supply motor/sterndrive $58,000 

Propeller $1200 depending on choice

Installation $15,000 (approximate — including full rewire, steering gear and throttle controls fuel system, anchor winch etc.)

ENGINE

Make/model Nanni Z4.270

Type 4-stroke diesel 

Configuration In-line 4-cylinder 

Displacement 2.982L

Fuel system Direct injection, high pressure common-rail, electronically controlled

Power at crankshaft 194.9kW (265hp)

Peak torque 668.5Nm

Air intake Turbocharged with intercooler

Cooling Closed cooling with heat exchanger

Alternator 12V 100A

Weight 472kg with Bravo X two

Gear ratio 1.8:1 Bravo X three 

SUPPLIED AND MOTOR INSTALLED BY 

Marine Diesel Pty Ltd

Unit 21, 29 Moreton Bay Road

Capalaba, QLD, 4157

P (+61) 07 3390 3633

W marinediesel.net.au

Nanni Diesel Australia

26/17-21 Bowden Street

Alexandria, NSW, 2015

P (+61) 02 9319 5222

W engines@nannidiesel.com.au