www.iFourWinns.com

Going to check one out this week and after reading the post on one witha 460 I have a concern.

They talk about the coupler that may not be available. The boat I am looking at is the 350 King Cobra. Is there anything of this nature I need to be concerned about.

I have always had Mercruisers (Baja's) so I'm not familiar with these. I have this love for classics, a boat is like a hot rod for me. So this boat is a good fit.

This was an issue he mentioned "The boat dies out if you go full speed with the throttle, but if you ease on it you can get max power out of it" my thought is carb, anyone else have thought?

Anything I should look out for?

Thanks in advace.

Howdy,

Well, the coupler problem for the 460 is actually quite unique to the 460 since OMC only offered them from 87-90 and then discontinued them permanently.

I had a quick look at Doug Russell and got the part number for that 89 5.0/5.8L coupler (3853862) and not only does Doug Russell have it but you can get it at Go2marine and a bunch of other places. It's about double what a coupler for a Mercruiser would be though...

You're also looking at the most problematic of the Cobras. (some imply that the early Dog-clutch Cobras were partially responsible for OMC's demise) Read here: http://www.hastings.org/~stuart/cobra/


If you MUST have an old dog-clutch Cobra with a Ford Marine engine, (Both of which are not manufactured anymore) You should get an OEM service manual and become familiar with that link above.

Make sure that you can get common wear items like the coupler, exhaust manifolds and riser/elbows. It also might be a good idea to find someone that can install/adjust a lower shift cable since maladjustment will cause severe vertical drive damage/destruction and some internal parts may not be available anymore for certain dog-clutch Cobras.

My suggestion? If you have a choice (I.E. someone is NOT holding a gun to your head) Don't buy a boat with an OMC Cobra inside.

In todays economy, there's literally thousands of boats out there with Volvos & Mercruisers for sale and they're getting cheaper.....(Volvo and Mercruiser are still in business too!)


Regards,


Rick

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

I'd listen to what Rick says, I am also an OMC owner, and while I have not had trouble getting things fixed, that is because I have the more common regular Cobra with a 4.3 V-6. Also I am lucky that I have a great OMC trained mechanic in the next town who can re-build an entire Cobra in his shop to like new standards. Still, even for mine, the one piece manifolds they used on the V-6s from 85-90 are hard to find and expensive if you do find them, I replace the OE ones in 2004 and bought an extra set (good thing too because after that the price doubled!) I like them because with the one piece design there is no riser gasket to leak.

If you do buy this boat, it's like owning a classic musclecar, you will have to scrounge around for parts and it may be hard to find someone to work on it. But it all depends on where you are, some places do have a lot of OMC techs.

I recently got into a real pissing match with some guy on the Bayliner Owners Club, basically I was trying to advise a new guy considering an OMC boat of the difficulties he might face. This guy ranted and raved about how they have plenty of OMC techs being trained in college up in Canada, and there are plenty of aftermarket drives available. What he didn't come out and say, is that the drives he referenced were rebuilt with GLM parts, which my mechanics say are not good quality. I still feel he was giving the new guy bad advice, but that's just my opinion.

Really try to find a Lib with a Merc, and make your life easier!

_________________
88 Four Winns 200 Horizon
4.3 OMC Cobra-4bbl
2002 Walker Bay 10/2012 Suzuki 2.5
2008 Walker Bay 8

1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0/Selectrac
2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7 Hemi/Quadradrive II

Lou is so right!

If you're handy with a tool box, have an overhead hoist, and a lot of time on your hands,you could do what I did, get the boat with OMC inside for next to nothing (I paid a little too much) and find a used or new complete Merc/Volvo eng/drive and swap it all out. With boats that old you also run the risk of floor/stringer/transom rot too so check that very carefully.

If you just want to go boating in the summer instead of working on a boat all summer, take Lou's advice...


Good luck!



Rick

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

Thanks I will pass on the boat. I have only had Mercruisers and thought it best to look into this.

I did find one that was repowered with a new 5.7 Volvo GXI and New Drive.

Again I am not at all familiar so doing some research.

Let me know if you have any good links or insight. Everything I have read so far seems good.