wel/hin

[buzzm19]

Hi guys, I have a friend that bought a project boat, it is a1986 21ft wellcraft with a chevy v8. The hin letters are (wel) which tells me it is a wellcraft, My question is it has an omc cobra outdrive on it, I don't believe mercury ever used any outdrive than mercruiser. Would anyone know if the omc cobra was ever used by mercruiser, I myself would say no with my 50years of boating never seen or heard of it. Next if any one changed it would it be a beneifit or just a butcher job? Thanks Bus (maybe Chris would chime in on this)

 

[Scott Danforth]

OMC went out of business over 2 decades ago. they were a competitor of Mercruiser. not associated with anything about mercruiser. they both used longblocks from GM. OMC was Johnson/Evinrude/Gale/OMC Merc marine is Mercury and Mercruiser.

if you have been boating 50 years and not seen an OMC, you havent been looking

with a 34 year old boat, I would guess the motor and drive are the least of your worries. after the hull restoration, drop a mercruiser or volvo penta setup in there (complete from controls to prop).

 

[PatinIdaho]

Seems kind of confusing question.
I would venture a guess that it is OMC powered(original) and Mercruiser was never installed.

 

[wellcraft-classic210]

I think wellcraft may be able to tell you from the vin if you contact them -- Many Wellcrafts were indeed mercruisers in the late 80's // not really sure if they ever used OMC drives but they may have.

 

[achris]

As already said, OMC Cobra went decades ago. The good news is that the cutout OMC elected to use just happened to be the same as the MerCruiser. So fitting a MerCruiser to a previously Cobra powered boat isn't difficult...

Up to 1977 MerCruiser also used Ford V8s, and up to about 1967, Renault 4 cylinder engines. In the 70s and 80s Merc experimented with building their own 3.7L 4 cylinder engine, the notorious '470'. Merc continued to use GM supplied 4, 6 and V8s. As GM has dropped the cast iron block from their range, just a couple of years ago, Merc has revisited making their own engines...

OMC continued using Ford engines, including their 4 cylinder OHC engine, originally a 2 litre, increased to 2.3L for OMC.

Mercury Marine also own the 'Mariner' outboard brand too...

Your question regarding drives. Each manufacturer, Merc, OMC, Volvo, BMW and Yamaha have each only ever used their own drives in the stern drive application... For straight inboards it's a different story, with Merc at least using ZF, Borg-Warner, and a few others that temporarily escape me (old age setting in)....

Hope this helps...

Chris....

 

[buzzm19]

Thank you guys just what I was thinking. Scott I ment omc od on a wellcraft, Chris your the man.Mercury invented the I/o consept they had a first showing at the Chicago boat show and were laughed out of the show==after they wone 3 back to back world champinships everyone took notice. Same as Don Garles rear engine top fuel dragister.

 

[achris]

Thank you guys just what I was thinking. Scott I meant OMC on on a Wellcraft, Chris your the man.Mercury invented the I/o concept they had a first showing at the Chicago boat show and were laughed out of the show==after they won 3 back to back world championships everyone took notice. Same as Don Garles rear engine top fuel dragster.

Same with Raymond Hunt's concept hull. All the experts of the day just laughed at him and said 'it'll never work!'... The next year his hull took most of the top places in the Miami to Nassau offshore race... Everybody scrambled to copy the design, too late. Raymond has already copyrighted the deadrise, and nobody was allowed to come within 3 degrees. That hull? Bertram of course....

Chris......

 

[Scott Danforth]

...Mercury invented the I/o concept they had a first showing at the Chicago boat show and were laughed out of the show==.

you may want to do your research... http://www.rbbi.com/folders/pat/isd.htm

 

[tpenfield]

buzzm19 Not quite following . . .

What is it about the OMC that makes you think it is a Mercury/Mercruiser? Is the engine labeled differently than the outdrive?

As stated, they engines are both GM based, be it OMC or Merc.

 

[wellcraft-classic210]

buzzm19 When you say-- I meant omc od on a wellcraft, I think that's been confusing for readers

ARE YOU ASKING IF WELLCRAFT EVER USED OMC ??????????

PRETTY SURE THE ANSWER IS YES ( BASED ON A QUICK GOOGLE SEARCH )

 

[nola mike]

buzzm19 When you say-- I meant omc od on a wellcraft, I think that's been confusing for readers

ARE YOU ASKING IF WELLCRAFT EVER USED OMC ??????????

PRETTY SURE THE ANSWER IS YES ( BASED ON A QUICK GOOGLE SEARCH )

Well, based on the rotting wellcraft hull with a cobra outdrive sitting in someone's yard that I pass whenever I'm traveling to the river, I can tell you 100% that the answer is yes. In fact, looks to be about 21'. Pretty sharp looking boat.