Any help or ideas I have a 1992 OMC king cobra four Winns liberator looking to upgrade my ignition system it has a 351 Windsor
Howdy Kieth!
Welcome Aboard! Another LIB!!! I have one of those!! Yes. You NEED to replace the ignition since it's essentially not supportable anymore.
It might help if you post the model number of your engine/drive combination.
You said 351 which would make it one of the following
584DPEAMH 1992
584DPEAMK 1992
(Both Carbureted)
Although there's probably little or no difference between the two.
You also probably know that you have the OMC interim cone clutch drive which is not easy to support.
OMC used a shift assist program in the ECM not unlike the ESA used with dog-clutch Cobras. Newer (Mercury and Volvo) cone-clutch drives do not use any sort of shift assist system so it's debatable if you absolutely need it.
You would have to "haywire" one in with a Mallory, MSD or other marine ignition system. They work VERY well!!
Many people who get rid of the Spitfire have operated without any shift interrupt at all and it appeared to work.
If you REALLY like the boat and MUST keep it for sentimental reasons etc..... You might consider finding a donor boat with a (late 90's) Mercruiser or Volvo complete newer engine and drive and just replace the entire mess. I did that with my Liberator and never looked back.
If your drive is not damaged, it and the associated transom mount etc, are actually worth quite a lot to someone with a damaged one since they're so rare and expensive to fix. I sold my 1987 King Cobra (drive) for $1400 and shipped it all the way across the country. I got $350 for the transom mount as well as pretty good prices for the other stuff over next few years one piece at a time. All totaled, I got more than $3500 for everything selling on eBay, Craigslist and word of mouth etc.....
Good luck!
Rick
