I have to agree with all that has been said...I've owned the '88 Four Winns with the 4.3 OMC Cobra...and while the drive itself has been great...so has the transom mount and related parts...with none of the problems that Merc Alphas are known for in salt water (leaky rusty steering arms, loose hinge pins, steering play) the lack of techs to do repairs, and the difficulty in sourcing certain parts, is a real problem. I had the old batwing exhaust (one piece units on the V6 models) and had to investigate swapping over to the later style center riser exhaust because the batwings have been NLA over 10 years. I was able to do it but had to buy over $400 worth of Volvo Penta parts (90* exhaust pipes, hoses) to make it work. If the drive blew I can still get one rebuilt from Crowley Marine. However, if that does happen, a better plan would be to convert the Cobra to a VP/SX, this is a well known conversion that can be done with used parts and the SX is a big upgrade, equivalent to a Bravo strength wise and smoother shifting. But it all costs money, I would only do this because this boat has been pretty much 100% restored at this point.
So don't do it to yourself with all the good Merc powered boats out there, that will have none of these issues....I taught myself to do the OMC shift adjustment jokingly kidding with my OMC techs a few years back because "what will I do when you retire"....and this fall....they did! The guy who owns our boatyard bought their shop, he probably can do it as well, but good thing I know how to do it myself and have the 3 OMC tools needed to do it....I bet if you called 10 shops, 9 would say they don't work on them or don't work on boats that old.
Then there's the reality of wood and 'glass construction, I fixed plenty of rot on my '88 FW, I can tell you that's a job I'd NEVER EVER DO AGAIN. If I do get another boat....it will be nearly new....and powered by a modern outboard....
