Seized 78HP Nissan for Albin 27FC

[snewman]

I have a significan problem and any suggestions are appreciated.
My Abin 27 has a Nissan 78HP LD28M. I got busy and parked it for a year and a half. When I tried to start it, it won't turn over. Hired a diesel mechanic and the conclusion is that the rings are rusted to the cylinder walls. It has been in a shed for all that time so I have no explaination, except it is siezed.
I need a new, replacement or rebuilt engine. Any suggestions?
Is there a company out there that sells engines? A website I can look at for parts or a replacement engine? A scraped boat that wants to sell an engine? An engine other than a Nissan in my boat ok?
I was headed down the Mississippi this summer to the gulf. That is now on hold.
Any suggestions, ideas or recomendations are appreciated. Never gone looking for an engine before.
Thanks,
Scott

[RobS]

Member Panhdjoe has a mechanical background with Nissan and will hopefully give you some good advice. Perhaps he will chime in here or you can PM him.

Did your mechanic mention replacing the rings and bore (or hone) the cylinders? Not sure of it's cost effective unless you were capable of doing the job yourself...

[Old School]

For fear of sounding foolish... How about pulling the injectors, and pouring penetrating oil in the cylinders. Let it sit a day or two and try and rock the crankshaft back and forth. I bet you can get it to turn over. You're not going to have a new motor but probably one that runs.

[Panhdjoe]

I agree with Swabby 100%

[snewman]

Injectors pulled and penatrating oil poured in. Pulled the starter and put a bar on the fly wheel at the same time the mechanic had a breaker bar on the nut on front of engine, all the while tapping the fly wheel. Mechanic says that it is seized so hard that even if we break it loose there will be consideralble damage. I think the question is; buy a different engine or pull and fix this one. This is way beyond my expertise and I am not sure where to even start.
Scott

[DougSea]

I guess it comes down to budget and desires.

It is PROBABLY cheaper to repair the engine you have, assuming parts can be found and that significant damage hasn't occured. You can then keep everything else - cabling, controls, transmission, prop, shaft. And of course, the same performance once all is working correctly.

If you go the repower route you would probably change brands (Yanmar being the likely winner) need a new transmission, cables, controls, maybe you can keep the shaft, probably a new prop. The advantage, besides all that shiny new equipment, is that you could change the HP if you wanted.

If it were me I'd be taking a hard look at how I wanted to use the boat and how long I was going to keep it. If you're happy with it and plan on running her for a long time (and budget allows) I'd consider the re-power. If you're less sure I'd be getting the best price I could on that rebuild!

Hope that helps.