1989 OMC king cobra drive

[pirate11]

I have the dreaded clutch dog unit. It won't stay in gear. I want to replace the drive, but can't find current options. There are some older threads, but they are probably not current. Engine is in good shape (460).

 

[Bondo]

Re: 1989 OMC king cobra drive

Ayuh,... Welcome Aboard,....

I hate to say it But,... Short of a Total Refit,... You're probably SOL....

The King Cobras are bad enough, but the 460 is pretty much a Dead Horse... No Parts...

Rick, an iboater did just that awhile ago,... 454/ BravoIII....
I'm sure he can tell ya more than I....

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: 1989 OMC king cobra drive

Yeah......Bondo types much faster than me!!!


Sorry to hear that you have a 460 King Kobra.


You do not have a lot of good options for replacing your drive.

The smaller Cobras can be replaced with the SEI (conversion) drive.

Yours is not supported by SEI. You would have to either replace or rebuild your drive, do the Volvo modification (fairly big buck$) or swap the whole mess for a Mercruiser BBC+ Bravo I/II/III drive (which is what I did)


You have the added advantage of non-existent exhaust manifolds, coupler, and a few other no-longer available parts.
(Although Doug Russell occasionally has NOS manifolds once in a while for anywhere from double to triple the original coast!!......I don't know about couplers.....)

There's a company in Canada that will modify your flywheel to accept a Volvo BBC coupler I think for more big-buck$..... It's not worth it though.....


Your best bet might be to just remove everything and part out what's left. If you absolutely MUST keep the boat, start looking for a Donor boat with either a BBC-- Volvo Penta Duo-prop or Mercruiser Bravo 123 to put back in.


Sorry about that!



Rick

 

[Don S]

Re: 1989 OMC king cobra drive

It is possible to convert to the Volvo DPS outdrive. I have done a couple, but won't do any more.
The only reason is the coupler and the exhaust manifolds are NLA. You can get spacer/adapters for the manifolds to convert to 7.4L Chevy Merc manifolds, but it doesn't help with the coupler.
You loose a coupler, and you are DONE. There are no more. No one has redrilled something else, nada, nothing............ Gone.

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: 1989 OMC king cobra drive

It is possible to convert to the Volvo DPS outdrive. I have done a couple, but won't do any more.
The only reason is the coupler and the exhaust manifolds are NLA. You can get spacer/adapters for the manifolds to convert to 7.4L Chevy Merc manifolds, but it doesn't help with the coupler.
You loose a coupler, and you are DONE. There are no more. No one has redrilled something else, nada, nothing............ Gone.

If I had known about the DPS, I might have tried it in my Four Winns Liberator.... The 460 + DPS would have probably REALLY ran well!


Last year I spoke to a company http://www.performanceengines.ca/OMC-couplers.htm in Canada and asked them about their modification.


I guess they work...... They didn't say which coupler they use that matches the OMC KC yoke......I think someone else told me that they use a newer Volvo coupler for the BBC which is evidently still available.

It does make an obsolete engine/drive combination that much more expensive to keep going and it doesn't solve the manifold problem.....

(and of course unless you do the Volvo DPS drive, you're still stuck with that wonderful POS Dog-clutch Cobra!!)


There must've been a LOT of 460 Cobras sold in Canada!!!



///

 

[Don S]

Re: 1989 OMC king cobra drive

If it was possible to find couplers and manifolds, the drive change to a DP-S would be a good thing.
Here is something I put together after the first conversion I did. There was only talk about it being possible, and Volvo didn't make a kit for it, and I knew there were a lot of 460's around the are I was in (KTN Ak) so I gave it a try.
Here is what happened.

http://www.4shared.com/document/XQirh8C-/OMC_KC_to_Volvo_DP_Conversion.html

PS: Rick, it would make you sad to know the difference between a Volvo DP and the Bravo III. Ran identical 28' boats with 7.4MPI Mercruisers. 1 with B2, one with B3. no difference except in reverse.

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: 1989 OMC king cobra drive

If it was possible to find couplers and manifolds, the drive change to a DP-S would be a good thing.
Here is something I put together after the first conversion I did. There was only talk about it being possible, and Volvo didn't make a kit for it, and I knew there were a lot of 460's around the are I was in (KTN Ak) so I gave it a try.
Here is what happened.

http://www.4shared.com/document/XQirh8C-/OMC_KC_to_Volvo_DP_Conversion.html

PS: Rick, it would make you sad to know the difference between a Volvo DP and the Bravo III. Ran identical 28' boats with 7.4MPI Mercruisers. 1 with B2, one with B3. no difference except in reverse.

If I had known about that conversion, I might have tried it.

I also looked for a BB/DPS setup. I would have had to buy a new one......... never did find any used ones around here. But I sure found a LOT of Mercruisers.

About a year or so after I got mine running again, I found a 2006 425HP 496/Bravo III (with less than 100hrs) locally for about $8000. I would have LOVED to have gotten my hands on it!!

 

[marinetech77]

Re: 1989 OMC king cobra drive

EDIT:

Please use the Private Messages to make deals and describe parts you have.

 

[pirate11]

Re: 1989 OMC king cobra drive

Pretty impressive. What was the total out-of-pocket and hours involved?