What did I buy?

[dellsboater]

Bought a liberator with a gm motor, know this cause distribitor in back, says King Cobra 350 on the air cleaner.....was this a bad combo? Is there serious issues with this drive? Saw some bad post about the 460/cobra setup.
Saw post saying impellers are 120 bucks, but saw them online for 20 bucks....whats up?

1988 Libeator
350 GM Motor
OMC outdrive which one?????????

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: What did I buy?

Howdy,


If you have a "King" Cobra and it's 1990 and newer, it may be an (interim) cone clutch OMC drive. Sort of rare.

If it's 89 or earlier it will be a dog-clutch drive. Your drive is not a "King" Cobra because they only called the drive mated to a 460 King for 89 and earlier.

The OMC drives after somewhere around 1995 or 96 were Volvo Penta SX type drives.

You can go to the following site and determine exactly what you have by the model number. (you do not have to put in an email address....just leave it blank)
http://epc.brp.com/


In any case, having an OMC engine and drive does limit you finding some certain parts if they break.

In general, most or all of the most common "wear" parts are available either from the after-market or new (old-stock)

Consider yourself very lucky you do not have a 460.....there are some parts for them that are simply not available at any price unless you cannibalize another drive.

I had one in my Lib. I fixed it as indicated below.


Regards,


Rick

 

[dellsboater]

Re: What did I buy?

So I why is the air cleaner decal a king cobra? Was that just generic the put on all liberators? I am glad too its not a 460.....

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: What did I buy?

So I why is the air cleaner decal a king cobra?

It's possible that someone removed an engine from a later model boat.

OMC was pretty liberal with the "King" Cobra moniker.

Prior to 88 or so only the 460 was called "King" (for obvious reasons).

Later, they started calling almost all of them King Cobra.

If yours is an 88, it's a fairly common (dog-clutch) Cobra. There's still a lot of parts still available and you can even replace your drive with an SEI by using their kit.

Get yourself an OMC service manual. Ensure that you change the oil in the drive and follow the manual carefully when you do it.

Don't remove the "Do Not Remove" screw under the emblem on the left upper part of the drive.

Ensure that the lower shift cable is in good repair and adjusted correctly.


If you really like the Four Winns Liberator and you want to keep it, start looking now for a 454/Bravo setup so you can eventually swap it out. The boat will be a dog out of the hole with a small block engine.

Mine was a dog out of the hole with the 460/King Cobra (even when it was new.....) Pretty fast once it finally got up on a plane though. Everybody hated skiing behind it because it was so slow getting them out of the water.

 

[Lou C]

Re: What did I buy?

IF this is an 88 Motor/Drive combination and not a newer one, then there was a King Cobra listed with a 350 small block and through the transom exhausts for that year, the drive is the standard dog clutch Cobra. Which is relatively good news because most parts are out there either from Evinrude dealers or the aftermarket like Sierra. In fact the V-8/standard Cobra is even easier than the V-6s to get certain parts for because the exhaust manifolds are available in the aftermarket unlike the one piece units used on the V-6s like mine....
I'd try to get some OMC shop manuals and learn how to do the basic maintenance yourself and then find a good OMC mechanic for what you can't do yourself. They are not bad drives if they are maintained right. Mine is 22 years old and still going strong....

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: What did I buy?

Yeah.....I think for the next few years after 88 they were calling nearly everything "King Cobra"

It's also possible that someone could have removed a 460 and replaced it with a small block.

I don't know if it would be possible install a small block in place of a 460. The inner transom plate and gimbal are the same though, so it would bolt up.

Since couplers are no longer available for 460's, (but there is a way to modify a 460 flywheel to work with a newer Volvo coupler of some sort) A lot of 460 owners have had to make do with what they have.

The best most accurate way to know exactly what drive is by the OMC model number #9xxxxx

Another way to determine if it really is the "big dog" drive, is to drain the drive oil. If it's 108oz of fluid, you have the big one. If it's considerably less, then it's not.

Refill the drive oil the "OMC Way". Fill it incorrectly, and you'll get stranded, towed, and be replacing it.


I cannot emphasize this enough!!


Good luck,


Rick

 

[dellsboater]

Re: What did I buy?

Defenitly not a replacment motor, evrything is intake and matches the original paperwork. Hold 64 oz of gear lube.

 

[Lou C]

Re: What did I buy?

Do you have through the transom exhaust?? Because the only King Cobras listed in my 88 OMC Owners/Operators manual are the 460 Ford, and the 350 Chevy with the through the transom exhaust...post some pix for us to see......

 

[dellsboater]

Re: What did I buy?

Tes thru hull exhaust....will take some photos, what do you wnt to see? Motor shot from inside, and outdrive?

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: What did I buy?

Defenitly not a replacment motor, evrything is intake and matches the original paperwork. Hold 64 oz of gear lube.

If it's an 89.....It is definitely NOT a Dog-clutch King Cobra DRIVE..........It IS however a regular dog-clutch COBRA drive..... There is a difference....

Doesn't really matter what you "call" it though.

Just ensure that you have the correct service manual for that drive. The OMC manuals indicate which model numbers they cover.

If you have a Seloc or Clymer, use them for knee pads while you're reading your OMC manual and working on the drive.


In 1987, the only called the 460 a King Cobra...... thru-hull or no.....

 

[Lou C]

Re: What did I buy?

Tes thru hull exhaust....will take some photos, what do you wnt to see? Motor shot from inside, and outdrive?

The drive is the main thing.....
if it takes 64 oz of gear oil, then that's the regular Cobra dog clutch, that's what mine takes....The upper and lower units on the V-6/V-8 small blocks were the same, only the gear ratios were different. The 460 Ford King dog clutch took 108 oz of gear oil because the lower unit was the bigger V-8 OMC outboard lower unit from what I heard.....

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: What did I buy?

The 460 Ford King dog clutch took 108 oz of gear oil because the lower unit was the bigger V-8 OMC outboard lower unit from what I heard.....

I never heard that one but you may be right!

All the uppers are the same though?


Hmm...

Answered my own question....


According to the Doug Russell parts site, the uppers are the same for the 5.0, 5.7, 7.5, and 8.2L drives. and slightly different for other upper ratios, (but same for each)

Obviously, the lowers are quite different across the drives...

 

[rodbolt]

Re: What did I buy?

what did I buy?
I"ll answer, a pig in a poke.
the dog clucth king did use the V8 sized lower case.
some of the lower case parts actually interchanged.
OMC stern drive division was going down the tubes in those years and all kinds of stuff was done.
pictures would help a lot.
the GM distributer V8 in normal production with a distributer at the back covers the 265 CID to the 8.2L.
from about 1955 to about 2006.
there are some larger V8 motors but not in general production.
uppers for the dog clutch and cone clutch are as different as mars and venus.
about the only thing they shared was that gray paint and decals.
is it a bad buy? no one here knows.
post some pics, get a handle on what you have, enjoy it.

 

[dellsboater]

Here the pictures

Here the pictures

This shows the engine and outdrive...

On the tag on the valve cover says omc model number 985273

 

[Lou C]

Re: What did I buy?

That's just what I thought it was, a Chev 350/standard Cobra dog clutch. Same color as my Horizon, I had that red carpet till I re-built the deck and got rid of all the carpet.....too bad my gelcoat is all oxidized....