Cone Clutch King Cobra. School me

[mrbell83]

Tell me all about it. I want to know everything I can about this bastard child. i have my boat in for service right now and the gimbals, yoke, bellows and a few other things need to be done. The mechanic said he can get the parts but advises that I sell it even though he said the gear set and out drive are in great shape. From what I have read, these drives are beefy and don't break easily (especially not with a 351). So, how hard is finding parts and do I have to worry if its in good shape and I don't beat on it?

P.S. Don't give me the buy a mercruiser BS. I bought this boat because its what I wanted, plain and simple.

Thank you...

 

[45Auto]

Re: Cone Clutch King Cobra. School me

P.S. Don't give me the buy a mercruiser BS. I bought this boat because its what I wanted, plain and simple.

No problem then. Pay whatever it takes to fix it. Get rid of the mechanic you're using now and find one you trust.

Do a search here and you'll find the opinions agree with your mechanics.

 

[Bondo]

Re: Cone Clutch King Cobra. School me

P.S. Don't give me the buy a mercruiser BS. I bought this boat because its what I wanted, plain and simple.

Ayuh,....

If you want to live with a Dead Horse, that Parts,+ Service are almost Non-existent for,......

I guess you've got what you Want....

Otherwise,...
Swap it out to a Mercruiser, or Volvo....

 

[Haut Medoc]

Re: Cone Clutch King Cobra. School me

Ayuh,....

If you want to live with a Dead Horse, that Parts,+ Service are almost Non-existent for,......

I guess you've got what you Want....

Otherwise,...
Swap it out to a Mercruiser, or Volvo....

Hey, he said don't give him that BS......

 

[Don S]

Re: Cone Clutch King Cobra. School me

Tell me all about it.

Can't tell you anything about it, you didn't give a year!!

and do I have to worry if its in good shape and I don't beat on it?

Guess it's time to polish up the ole crystal ball again.

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: Cone Clutch King Cobra. School me

So, how hard is finding parts and do I have to worry if its in good shape and I don't beat on it?

Well,

Some parts are NOT available. (if you didn't know it the company went out of business around 1999)

If you have the Spitfire ignition and/or EFI and you kill the module, you'll be replacing the distributor with an MSD or other distributor and putting a carb on it.

If there's nothing wrong with it, you have nothing to worry about. If you take care of it it's as probably as reliable as any other sterndrive that old.

If you have some sort of emotional attachment to the boat, and you think you'll damage the drive at sometime in the future, start looking for a Volvo Penta or Mercruiser engine and drive now to replace it with.



Good luck.


Rick

 

[mrbell83]

Re: Cone Clutch King Cobra. School me

No problem then. Pay whatever it takes to fix it. Get rid of the mechanic you're using now and find one you trust.

Do a search here and you'll find the opinions agree with your mechanics.

Ayuh,....

If you want to live with a Dead Horse, that Parts,+ Service are almost Non-existent for,......

I guess you've got what you Want....

Otherwise,...
Swap it out to a Mercruiser, or Volvo....

Hey, he said don't give him that BS......

Can't tell you anything about it, you didn't give a year!!



Guess it's time to polish up the ole crystal ball again.

Hahaha, you guys are funny. I only meant that I have an OMC, right wrong or indifferent, I have one. I have always wanted a liberator with a ford in it so I guess I will pay the price.

The boat is a 1992 with a 351 OMC.

As far as ignition it has the spitfire system and it has a 4 barrel carburetor. From what I have heard (don't know just heard) it isn't that hard to switch to MSD ignition and get rid of the spitfire. I don't know if its expensive or not, but I have heard it isn't that difficult to do...

 

[mrbell83]

Re: Cone Clutch King Cobra. School me

I have been reading that you can convert from a king cobra to Volvo out drive with the purchase of a conversion kit. Any truth to this?

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: Cone Clutch King Cobra. School me

I have been reading that you can convert from a king cobra to Volvo out drive with the purchase of a conversion kit. Any truth to this?

There is some truth to that. I think Don has done a few in his career... It ain't cheep. Problem is, you still have that Ford. (I'm also not sure that Volvo has the kits for the "transistion" drive.....(which is the one you have if it's a ""Cone Clutch King Cobra" )

Don't get me wrong, (after you replace that Spitfire) there's probably not a lot wrong with that 351......except because NO ONE "marinzes" (is that a word?) Fords anymore manifolds will probably get more expensive for them in the future. More importantly, unless you replace that Gimbal mount with the Volvo, I think there's a few parts on that mount that are not available too. I could be wrong about that....It's worth doing a little reasearch before you dump a whole lotta money in a drive...

On the other hand....you could just get it running good and start looking now for a complete stern drive combo Volvo or Merc.

I could have kept the King Kobra in my Lib and probably ran it another few years but the 454/Bravo dropped into my lap for a "song" and I couldn't pass it up.

There might be a slight advantage in the Merc over the Volvo. I like to buy a lot of parts and acc on ebay. On any given day, there's probably (new & used) 300-500 volvo drives, parts & acc on ebay. There's usually 1200-1500 Merc parts...

The Mercruiser was available first for me so I grabbed it. If the Volvo had been first, I would have gotten it instead.

I will say that if you find a "duo-prop" you might consider it. With approx the same HP, the dual prop just Rockets out of the hole now. It was pretty doggy on hole shot before (as were all 460 King Kobra Liberators!)


Good luck. (you're gonna need it)


Rick

 

[mrbell83]

Re: Cone Clutch King Cobra. School me

Well, the motor was gone thru with a fine tooth comb so I know it will run well for many years. (in theory) As long as the leak is fixed with new bellows and the out drive service takes care of any other issues, I will just run it until it breaks. After that, if I can't part with this boat, I would love to put a volvo DP on...

 

[Lou C]

Re: Cone Clutch King Cobra. School me

You're the same guy on Jeeps Unlimited, right?? Anyway I am one of the few OMC supporters here, having had pretty good luck with my 88 4.3 Cobra. The issue with parts is a real one though, so far I have been able to get what I needed, but the trim senders are NLA, the exhaust manifolds (one piece units) used on the older 4.3s are too....although the aftermarket stepped in with a conversion kit. I am going to run it as long as I can get parts, when I can't then I'll consider the Volvo conversion (price of the drive is the stumbling block, they are pricey). Dollar wise you can get an Alpha Gen II and the transom shield for what the Volvo SX costs. But the conversion is much less work, no engine pull needed and a good backyard mechanic can do it. We'll see what happens. Sierra makes a complete Cobra drive now, and many of the parts, it all comes down to what exact part you need.
Good luck with it, I saw the pix on JU and it looks great. I wish FW still made them. Now they are down to only 1 cuddy, all the rest are bowriders, deck boats or crusiers.

 

[mrbell83]

Re: Cone Clutch King Cobra. School me

You're the same guy on Jeeps Unlimited, right?? Anyway I am one of the few OMC supporters here, having had pretty good luck with my 88 4.3 Cobra. The issue with parts is a real one though, so far I have been able to get what I needed, but the trim senders are NLA, the exhaust manifolds (one piece units) used on the older 4.3s are too....although the aftermarket stepped in with a conversion kit. I am going to run it as long as I can get parts, when I can't then I'll consider the Volvo conversion (price of the drive is the stumbling block, they are pricey). Dollar wise you can get an Alpha Gen II and the transom shield for what the Volvo SX costs. But the conversion is much less work, no engine pull needed and a good backyard mechanic can do it. We'll see what happens. Sierra makes a complete Cobra drive now, and many of the parts, it all comes down to what exact part you need.
Good luck with it, I saw the pix on JU and it looks great. I wish FW still made them. Now they are down to only 1 cuddy, all the rest are bowriders, deck boats or crusiers.

Hey Lou, thanks for the compliment. And yes, I am it is me on Jeepsunlimited. I just figure I will run it until no one can get me parts then I will do a Volvo DP conversion...lol