1981 WellCraft 180XL OMC800 stern drive Ruined 305, want to/have to swap to a 350

[samt]

Hey guys, I'm new to the forum and pretty new to inboard boats. I have a 1981 wellcraft 180XL It has a OMC 800 stern drive. My brother didn't winterize it good and the OMC200 305GM filled up with water :embarassed: so I traded him a VW engine for his sandrail for the boat. Currently the 305 is trash, been sitting 2 years locked up with watery oil. Also you have to help the outdrive lift up, the Previous owner was using it to beach the boat and I guess wore the tilt motor out, so I need to fix that too. Trim doesn't work either.

SO here are my questions:
1. I saw a post in the archives that a guy said you could remove the engine with out pulling the outdrive? Is that right, or where do I find a good guide for engine and outdrive removal? I read somewhere that if you mess up some cable in the outdrive your screwed.

2. what parts do I need to replace to get my tilt working?

3. I have been given a cast iron head Vortec 350 from a friend, It was an irrigation engine and he swaped to an electric motor. He says it was burning a good bit of oil, so it needs a simple freshen up. I read a thread that stated that there was no way to mate any of the 1986+ 1 piece rear main SBC engines to the 800 stern drive. Is that correct? do I need to hunt down an older 350 or is there a way around this, a flywheel swap of some sort?

Thanks for the help guys,
Sam

 

[Boomyal]

Re: 1981 WellCraft 180XL OMC800 stern drive Ruined 305, want to/have to swap to a 350

Too many questions at one time. Suffice it to say you need to be careful with chevy swaps. Later chevy motors had a different bolt pattern on the crank and they never made 800 couplers to fit them. As tp tje rest, we have no clue as to what is missing to get your tilt to work. Just do not buy a cheap tilt motor. They do not develop sufficient torque to do the job.

 

[Howard Sterndrive]

Re: 1981 WellCraft 180XL OMC800 stern drive Ruined 305, want to/have to swap to a 350

do I need to hunt down an older 350 or is there a way around this,

the way around looking for old engines, is to look for the GM crate motors that came from Mexico. To this day, GMPP still builds the 290HP 350 with the 2 pc rear main seal.

 

[southkogs]

Re: 1981 WellCraft 180XL OMC800 stern drive Ruined 305, want to/have to swap to a 350

Even if ya' can remove the engine without removing the drive (I don't know the later Stringers all that well), why would you? Taking a Stringer leg off is pretty easy.

As far as the tilt goes - test your power all the way back to the motor to make sure you're getting power. If you are, then it's probably time to check the motor out. I would have it rebuilt rather than buy a new one.

Have you gotten a shop manual? You'll need one.

 

[samt]

Re: 1981 WellCraft 180XL OMC800 stern drive Ruined 305, want to/have to swap to a 350

Yes I definetly need a manual this boat stuff is alot harder to find.
My friend has 3 motors I can pick one, maybe one will work all are post 1986 style heads so I guess one may be built on a 2 piece block. If so I assume no roller cam?

 

[Boomyal]

Re: 1981 WellCraft 180XL OMC800 stern drive Ruined 305, want to/have to swap to a 350

If'n you remove the motor without removing the drive, be sure to support the drive. It would otherwise just be supported by the intermediate mounts and the transom boot. That would be a lot of strain.

 

[samt]

Re: 1981 WellCraft 180XL OMC800 stern drive Ruined 305, want to/have to swap to a 350

Well im a pretty big guy, so its probably best I remove the drive. Can anyone give me a quick crash course in this? Id like to get everything pulled this weekend and see what I have got and what I need.
My wife says this thing is a pos, so I need to get it going so she can enjoy it some.

I found a Buick 350 dirt cheap, that wouldnt work right?

 

[Boomyal]

Re: 1981 WellCraft 180XL OMC800 stern drive Ruined 305, want to/have to swap to a 350

Don't know about the buick, cause I am not a GM type of guy. However, it would be a lot less work (sorry southkogs) to leave the drive in place. Just tie the leg up to the transom (in the full tilt position) before you pull the motor. This way you won't have to mess with the shift cable and converter box. I'm not sure if the converter bracket is mounted to the motor or the intermediate housing. If mounted to the motor, you can unbolt it and tie it up out of the way. Do not kink the shift cable coming from the outdrive. My '78/79 drive is a morphidite. It is mounted to the earlier electric shift intermediate housing. As such, there was never a converter mounted to the engine or the IH. My converter is lagged to the inside of the transom.

I wouldn't want to tow the boat very much with the motor out of it but it probably won't be going anywhere when you have the motor out.

 

[samt]

Re: 1981 WellCraft 180XL OMC800 stern drive Ruined 305, want to/have to swap to a 350

Don't know about the buick, cause I am not a GM type of guy. However, it would be a lot less work (sorry southkogs) to leave the drive in place. Just tie the leg up to the transom (in the full tilt position) before you pull the motor. This way you won't have to mess with the shift cable and converter box. I'm not sure if the converter bracket is mounted to the motor or the intermediate housing. If mounted to the motor, you can unbolt it and tie it up out of the way. Do not kink the shift cable coming from the outdrive. My '78/79 drive is a morphidite. It is mounted to the earlier electric shift intermediate housing. As such, there was never a converter mounted to the engine or the IH. My converter is lagged to the inside of the transom.

I wouldn't want to tow the boat very much with the motor out of it but it probably won't be going anywhere when you have the motor out.

Ok, sounds good, so I just unbolt the motor from the bellhousing like a car, disconnect all the stuff and pull the motor forward and it pops out?

 

[southkogs]

Re: 1981 WellCraft 180XL OMC800 stern drive Ruined 305, want to/have to swap to a 350

... However, it would be a lot less work (sorry southkogs) to leave the drive in place. ...

No worries. Sounds like the electric shift is a BUNCH easier. And with an electric shift, you look for any "plus" you can check

 

[Howard Sterndrive]

Re: 1981 WellCraft 180XL OMC800 stern drive Ruined 305, want to/have to swap to a 350

the buick is not a candidate

 

[samt]

Re: 1981 WellCraft 180XL OMC800 stern drive Ruined 305, want to/have to swap to a 350

I figured the Buick was a bust.
Id think my machinest would be will ing to trade me a old shortblock for a vortec short block and I can run the good heads still.

I guess I will see what I have this weekend.
Thanks for the help guys, feel free to give any advice you think I need!

 

[Boomyal]

Re: 1981 WellCraft 180XL OMC800 stern drive Ruined 305, want to/have to swap to a 350

Ok, sounds good, so I just unbolt the motor from the bellhousing like a car, disconnect all the stuff and pull the motor forward and it pops out?

.....Indeed! I might add that sometimes it is difficult to separate the bellhousing/intermediate hsng from the motor. The only possible point of resistance, once you have all the bolts out, is that the intermediate drive shaft is rusted into the coupler. If you encounter this, you need to do a combination of prying back and fourth (with wide bladed prybars) AND some gentle, and I mean gentle, raps on the hub of the ball gear to send shockwaves up the shaft to the splines. (do this at your own risk)

It is also a good time to inspect and grease the coupler and drive shaft splines. I believe there is a oring just inside the coupler. It is intended to help hold the grease in. I think that your setup has the later, larger splines. This is good. The earlier electric shifts had finer splines and were prone to more degradation.

All of the stringer couplers take a pretty good beating because they are solid steel. There is no vulcanized rubber to absorb the vibrations. Idling is especially hard on them as it is on the water pump shafts. At idle, all those steel to steel parts just kind of dither back and forth, hammering the splines.

 

[samt]

Re: 1981 WellCraft 180XL OMC800 stern drive Ruined 305, want to/have to swap to a 350

Well guys I got the engine pulled and disassembled. It has a water jacket busted into the valley.
I figured out I can get a main seal adapter and put the 305 crank into my 350 and get the best of both worlds.

I figured out why trim doesnt work, a rear mount has broken loose and allowed the motor to twist a little into the trim aparatus. It looks like faulty glass work at the factory, the wood is a little rotten where the mount lags in, im trying to dry it out. This is a major budget so im going to

 

[samt]

Re: 1981 WellCraft 180XL OMC800 stern drive Ruined 305, want to/have to swap to a 350

Im goung to get it dry and I guess fill the rot with qcells and resin, then brace it forward to good wood. This boat looks cobbled from the factory, has horrible glass work to bolt the rear mounts to. There is a 1x6 glassed to the floor and the mounts lag through that. It came unglassed and let water rot the structure of the boat.

 

[Boomyal]

Re: 1981 WellCraft 180XL OMC800 stern drive Ruined 305, want to/have to swap to a 350

Im goung to get it dry and I guess fill the rot with qcells and resin, then brace it forward to good wood. This boat looks cobbled from the factory, has horrible glass work to bolt the rear mounts to. There is a 1x6 glassed to the floor and the mounts lag through that. It came unglassed and let water rot the structure of the boat.

That sucks samt. Might be time to go ahead and pull the outdrive and intermediate housing and do the stringers right. I thought WellCraft was a premium boat but it sounds like they took the same shortcuts as many of the others.

I really think that your idea of 'letting it dry out' is not going to cut it. You may have to just bite the bullet and do it right.

 

[samt]

Re: 1981 WellCraft 180XL OMC800 stern drive Ruined 305, want to/have to swap to a 350

I ll clean it up and see what have, id like to think a quality manufacturer wouldn't do what I see, it appears it was an add on after the fact, but I found no evidence the motor had ever been out.
The added glass work looks like a novice who got a crash course from his buddy who works at AutoZone did it. And the lags that hold the rear housing in were less than 1 inch into the structural work of the hull. I guess it did last 30 years though.

Its got to be fairly stought since im adding 50% more horse power!

 

[samt]

Re: 1981 WellCraft 180XL OMC800 stern drive Ruined 305, want to/have to swap to a 350

Well guys, I got my motor mounts fixed, 3 2x4s and lots of new glass, its good as new I hope.
I found a running 350 for $300, so im getting ready to bolt it in. I cant remember how the accessory drive goes. Does anyone have a diagram? The altenator appears to use the top 2 waterpump bolts, but im nit exactly sure and dont want to tesr it apart 3 or 4 times.

 

[samt]

Re: 1981 WellCraft 180XL OMC800 stern drive Ruined 305, want to/have to swap to a 350

I serviced the outdrive today too, lower and middle housings had mostly water, middle 90%water, the upper one had no water, but oil looked very thin for gear oil.
The tilt clutch was full of light green watery something. I filled it with gun grease, I read on here that was better to use than motor oil. And greased the tilt pivots.
Anything Im missing on servicing this thing up?

 

[Boomyal]

Re: 1981 WellCraft 180XL OMC800 stern drive Ruined 305, want to/have to swap to a 350

You work fast! Just keep an eye out for water in the gearcases next time you have it out in the water. Drain them after you have it in the water the next time. An old drive like yours could need some resealing. I hope you used the right lube in that electric shift lower drive? The upper gearcase and the intermediate housing use 80w-90. The lower uses a different specific lube.

Don't forget the front and rear steering shaft zerks. The rear is below the steering gear at the rear of the intermediate housing. The front fitting is in front of the TruCourse steering drum where the front end of the shaft is supported in the intermediate housing.

Good luck on re-installing all the peripherals. Should have taken some pictures. Maybe someone has some. I'm a Ford guy so I wouldn't have a clue about all the chevy stuff/