what kind of omc outdrive

[807ontario]

i bought a 1979 26' campion toba for $2500 thought it was a god deal. i wanted a cruiser. the 351w block that was in it was siezed up and super rusted so i decided to put a 302 in it but i wanna rebuild the tranny and outdrive so i wanna buy a service manual on them as im just learning about boats. i dont know what the model of the outdrive is.. i believe its a 1979 omc. i looked for numbers on it but its pretty beat up on the outside it seems so far.

 

[southkogs]

Sumtn' doesn't look quite right: 1979 should be an 800 hydro-mechanical shift and I'm pretty sure they were thru-hub exhaust. The pictures you posted look more like an electric shift ... which would have been more like '77 or earlier.

There should be a tag on the engine - mine is located starboard side toward the rear motor mount:


That should help you identify the drive, but maybe you can post a couple better pictures of the drive itself. This is what my drive looks like:

 

[Howard Sterndrive]

yeah that drive is definitely 1977 or earlier.
You probably don't want a single 302 in a 26 footer. Another 351 probably better to look for. Boat engines do not rev very high - you want an engine that can make good power under 4500 rpm. More displacement better..