Perkins 4.108 - Rebuild or Replace?

[gandalf]

In my quest to restore my beautiful new (old) Vancouver 42 the time has come to make a decision on repowering. The oil leaks, smoky exhaust and coolant loss are all signs that some serious surgery is required. One option is to buy a new engine, which would require changes to engine mounts, an adaptor plate for the gearbox, realignment etc. An alternative is to take out the old Perkins and have it rebuilt, effectively having a new motor without the installation hassles. However, it would still be an outdated motor and everyone I've spoken to says that Perkins are renowned for leaking oil, something I hate seeing in my bilge.

Does anyone have any similar experiences with Perkins engines, either replacing them or rebuilding them?

Cheers,

Frank