1987 cris craft cavalier engine

[Chased2]

Hello all. I recently purchased a 1987 cris craft cavalier and I have no history on the power train i/o this boat originally came with. It currently has a Chevy 153 nova inline 4 coupled to an OMC cobra outdrive.
my question is was this configuration offered from factory or has original engine been replaced with this? Thx

 

[southkogs]

Welcome aboard.

2.5l OMC on an '87 Chris? Why not?

 

[Chased2]

Is that from factory or is it a Frankenstein setup.

 

[Chased2]

I heard it's a GM 153 not iron duke.151.

 

[southkogs]

I believe that's correct. On the older OMCs (Stringers are what I had) the Iron Duke was never used. 2.5l should be a 153 inline 4. It's a marinized version, but that could be a factory setup.

 

[Chased2]

How can I verify? I contacted manufacturer and ran my hun to no avail

 

[southkogs]

Did Chris Craft say they didn't know? I would think they would be the best source. If you can locate an older brochure, that might tell you as well (you see 'em on sale on ebay every so often). I wouldn't expect the HIN to give you much information on the drive.

You could search other Cavaliers on sale and see if they have a similar setup. If it's a 17' 2.5l seems like the base motor, and Chris did use OMC ... so best guess is it's the original package. But I don't know for sure.