www.iFourWinns.com

Yeah,

The 261 Liberator is pretty cool! Sometimes I wish my brother had bought the 261 (I'd have it now!!) I suppose I'd be happier with the 241 though since it's single engine. If I had a 261 I would put 383 Mercruisers and Bravo III's in it. That would be a sweet setup!
If you ever do anything like that it won't be hard. The Mercruiser drives and the OMC Cobra use the exact same transom cutout right down to the bolt pattern (if you install a Bravo you drill 2 additional holes).

As an absolute minimum, you should remove both drives and check the alignment, bellows & lube the U-joints. I would also suggest putting Mercruiser HP synthetic drive oil in them. It's designed to handle a little water if any ever gets in there.

Good luck!

Cool boat.

Rick

_________________
1987 Four Winns Liberator 211, formerly OMC 460 King Kobra powered, replaced in 2006 by a 1997 Mercruiser 454/Bravo III

Gregg,

Ok, water coming from those "side ports" would be normal since that's where water is supposed to be.
As long as you ran the engines to circulate the AF or poured it into the thermostat hole you shouldn't have any problems.

The 460 cracks on the outside. and the manifolds crack on the bottom. About 14 years ago, my brother left this boat out in the front yard in Novato CA (20 miles N of San Fran) during a (very rare!) cold couple of weeks. The block cracked on the outside on both sides. Remarkably, the insurance company replaced the whole engine and manifolds!!

I added closed cooling to my 454 to eliminate the problem almost completely!

You will need to buy yourself an alignment tool (about $40-60) you can just pick one up on ebay or any dealer. You can find one at those links I sent you too or if you have a lathe or access to one you can just make on out of 1.375" steel rod. (I made mine) The tool is the same for Merc/Volvo/OMC.

Look VERY carefully at the drive bellows. If they leak they'll allow water to get into the U-joints. You probably have thru hull exhaust. You probably don't have an exhaust bellows.

Hope you have a merry Christmas and holiday!


Best Regards,


Rick

_________________
1987 Four Winns Liberator 211, formerly OMC 460 King Kobra powered, replaced in 2006 by a 1997 Mercruiser 454/Bravo III

Rick are you out there?
Well I picked up the owner, operator and parts manual expensive but worth every penny.

Im starting to get the boat ready for the water changing the bellows and the impeller ( a good look over )

One thing I cant seem to find is a hull manual , the boat has a refridgerator and dock side power receptical no cord and im afraid to get one not knowing how to use it properly this is the reason for contacting you if you would know where i could pick one up or where to get a copy would be much appreciated.

Thanks for all the info you have giving me so far it has been rite on.

Gregg

Rick thing cam to my mind about your flat cam problem for about 20 years the auto mfg's have been using roller cams instead of the flat tappet cams one reason is for environmental reasons. The oil mfg's have eliminated the zink and manganese in the oil so the older style cams loose thier cam lobes
Shell rotella has the zink and manganese in it but they are starting to cut that back as well its best to get the additive made by Dyson or Comp Cams has it , it is generally used durring cam break but a good idea to use it with every oil change. Take Care Gregg

Howdy Gregg,

Things thawing out there?

You know, you might try going to http://www.fourwinns.net/ownman/index.html you can get owners manuals there.

Be aware though, they have a very outdated/screwed up site. It doesn't work with all browsers. It's absolutely amazing.....They actually apologize for it rather than fix it!!!

I guess Microshaft forces them to use some sort of proprietary sort of HTML or Javascript!! (maybe they're OWNED by MS!!!)

They say you have to use Micro$of+ Exploder or something!! You click on your year model and when the manual appears (Adobe Acrobat file) you can right click on it and click "save as" and save the PDF to your desktop. It is a big file and seems to have a lot of info there.


I'd love to know how you're coming with your 261. Since we spoke last I found out that Doug Russell Marine has OMC 460 Couplers ($600) and exhaust manifolds ($600) EACH! But at least they can be bought! Maybe someone unless they were old stock sitting on someones shelf someone must be finally making that stuff.

I still haven't done anything with my King Cobra drive stuff....Maybe I'll put it all on Ebay this summer.


I looked over the "Sportboat" owners manual I downloaded from Four Winns. I didn't get much out of it.

You may be on your own on the hull manual unless Four Winns has something else...


Thanks for the info on the ZDDP. Yes that may be a problem. Certainly with flat tappet engines. (454 in my Liberator is a roller engine)
I do have a 55 Ford truck I'm putting a 292 in and it does have flat tappets. I have been using Shell Rotella 5W40 in just about everything though. It still has ZDDP in it but all diesel oils are slated to have zinc and other stuff removed in the future. We all may be stuck with additives or current oils....

_________________
1987 Four Winns Liberator 211, formerly OMC 460 King Kobra powered, replaced in 2006 by a 1997 Mercruiser 454/Bravo III

Hi Rick its slow going we had a week of 70 deg then rain and snow in the forcast tonight ? oh well.
I just picked up a garmin 540s a fixed mount vhf radio to install will do that this afternoon.
Making a stand for the outdrives using my motorcycle lift.
Bought the owner, operator and parts manuals man they put the clymers to shame.
Trying to absorb all the info i can on the outdrives ( a little nervous doing the outdrive service for the first time ) never know when there is some little trick that is never mentioned that can get you in trouble.
Well i will go round for round with it, i can turn a 2 hour job into a 4 hour thing real quik ( i have to study everthing i do )
Until the weather breaks the boat will stay in the barn.
Take Care Gregg