Conversion options for cone clutch King Cobra

timmojoman

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May 15, 2016
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I have a 1992 Four Winns Vista 235 with the Big Daddy King Cobra cone clutch outdrive and a Ford 351w motor. I also have a 1980 Sea Ray donor boat with a Ford 302 Mercruiser sterndrive (pre-Alpha). Rather than spend a small fortune on spare parts like water pumps and bellows, what issues would I have if I changed to Mercruiser? Is the transom cutout the same or similar and could I use newer style center rise exhaust manifolds? My King Cobra works fine for now but just looking down the road a bit. I see that for $1300 I can buy a brand new SEI Mercruiser replacement outdrive with a 3 year warranty plus be able to find parts much easier. Thanks for any help.
 

Bondo

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what issues would I have if I changed to Mercruiser? Is the transom cutout the same or similar and could I use newer style center rise exhaust manifolds?

Ayuh,.... Welcome Aboard,..... The transom hole is 'bout the same, 'n that'll be the least of yer issues,.....

The biggest draw-back to yer plan is stickin' with Ford power,....
Goin' Chevy/ Merc is much easier, 'n much cheaper,....

Merc dropped Ford 'bout when yer 302 was New,...
You'd have to adapt Volvo or OMC center riser manifolds to a Merc y-pipe, which might be tough to line up with,.....
I doubt yer 3 piece y-pipe is gonna help much, it's obsolete too,..

The Best way to save yer Four Winns is to refit a 350/ Alpha 1, or Gen.II into it,.....
In other words, find a donor boat with a 350 Chevy motor, 'n Merc drive, newer that 1983,....
 

bruceb58

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Mar 5, 2006
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A SEI drive is not going to fit a cone clutch Cobra as far as I know. You can call and ask.

If you move over everything, including the transom mount and the manifolds, everything will work fine. I would stick with the 351 though or do what Bondo says and switch to a Chevy.
 

HT32BSX115

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Dec 8, 2005
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10,083
I see that for $1300 I can buy a brand new SEI Mercruiser replacement outdrive with a 3 year warranty plus be able to find parts much easier. Thanks for any help.

Howdy,

Welcome aboard!

Yes, you sure can swap out all the OMC Kobra stuff for Mercruiser!

If the boat is a nice one, and it were mine, I would part out all the OMC stuff. If that drive is in good condition, there's a lot of people out there stuck with a cone-clutch OMC drive sweating finding one for a spare.......AND, it's probably worth close to what a new SEI drive would cost new!

When I removed my OEM installed OMG 460 King Kobra (in 2006) from my 1987 Four WInns 211 LIberator , I was able to sell all the OMC "stuff" over a 3 year period on eBay, Craigslist, etc for approx $3600 total!

A couple of weeks ago, I sold the 2 old OMC stainless steel props I had left over for about $150 making my total $3750! (in 2006, I gave $5000 for a 1997 454/Bravo package to install in place of the OMC stuff!!........I still have the boat)

I would also sell all the other ford engines and associated parts and find a "bob-tail " Mercruiser/GM 350 type engine with accessories to put in front of a new SEI drive. Or, find a complete 5.7L EFI Alpha or Bravo package (or do what I did and find a 454/Bravo III package to install!).



Cheers,

Rick
 
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