Re: What cobra stern drive ratio works with 7.5L
I was recently given a really clean 87' Bayliner 2850 that is powered by a 460 Ford. The engine and boat are in great shape but the drive is missing. The engine runs great and only has 289hours so I think it's worth putting the money into.
Howdy,
Yes. Like they indicated above, you're going to have a bit of a time finding a drive for that engine and gimbal mount. The drive that went behind the 460 was "special" in many ways. (for example, It held 108oz of oil compared to the other drives that held MUCH less and was MUCH heavier)
I had one on the back of my 1987 Four Winns Liberator that I removed and replaced with a Merc 454+Bravo drive.
The main reason was that certain parts are simply not available anymore for the 460. mainly exhaust manifolds.
The coupler was unavailable until Sierra (I think) starting supplying them again. I don't know if they're still available.
A coupler is not really a "wear" item since they last so long.
But manifolds are definitely wear items since they rust at a fixed rate and MUST be replaced on regular schedule if in salt and don't last indefinitely in fresh water.
You can find them from time to time for upwards of $1600 EACH on ebay from different suppliers as they find them from marine suppliers that go out of business and have them sitting on the shelf collecting dust.
It could be possible to change the gimbal mount and switch to a Volvo Penta DPS duo-prop I think. The Late DonS did one of those many years ago and someone here might still have the conversion info but the cost would be MUCH more than just pulling everything and getting something else in the boat.
I did my swap in 2006. After removing all the OMC stuff, I sold it all (including the drive) piece by piece on ebay, craigslist etc, for a total of about $3500 over a few years....... I still have a few parts left like props and filter mount castings unique to the 460 that I didn't even try to sell. selling all that junk offset the cost of buying the newer (1997) Merc set up.
Your best bet will be to pull the engine. It is worth "something"
Then you can find a busted boat with a good engine and drive. I would go with Mercruiser again only because for every Volvo engine/drive setup I found, I found "50" Mercruiser engines and drives. (I actually looked for a Volvo BBC/DP setup and never found one........But I DID find several Merc BBC/Bravo xxx setups)
Also, the OMC Cobra bolt pattern and drive "cut-out" is essentially identical to the Mercruiser cut-out. You only need to drill 2 additional holes for the 2 additional studs in the Mercruiser transom mount.
Good luck,
Rick
