1971 Cobalt questions

Hey fellas, newbie to the water world here<- I have tons of ????'s, however I'll keep it short. My boat has a 165 hp mercury I-6 with a 2 bbl carb. I know it's really a GM 250 cu. in. 6. Can I use typical gm replacement parts, plugs wires etc for this engine?? It also has a Mercruiser outdrive, but which one came on such an old boat??? the R drive, Alpha 1, 2 ??? I get dizzy trying to learn so much so soon as this is my first boat and it's a project as well. A really BIG project!! Does anyone know where I can get manuals, engine, outdrive, wiring diagrams specific to 71 Cobalt tri-hull boats??? Thanks for any help.

Re: 1971 Cobalt questions

Capt',
First things first....Although it may be a GM engine, its first and foremost a Marine engine,that means great precautions have been taken to seal all electrical items against a possible spark,,which can ignite any gas vapors,this means Alternator/starter/ignition parts ect....you can use regular sparkplugs (gaped correctly) and wires,but anything else HAS to be Marine Grade!! as for manuals,very hard to find for the older, lesser known boats,best bet is e-bay and there is a site for old fiberglass boats,last but best is the Restoration Forum here at iboats,those boys know there stuff and love to share info,so after reading this...post there. Good Luck Amigo !!!

Re: 1971 Cobalt questions

ya probably will have a hard time finding info on the boat. good thing is, is that the boat is the boat, everything else is made by someone else and put on your model of boat. i've got 2 boats. one i've found out very little about (72 trisonic). the other, (75 aristocraft) some info can be found. depends on the boat. ya can however find info on the engine and drive. ya most likely have a mercruiser 1 drive. the way to id mercruiser is by serial number. here's a link that could help with the id....http://www.mercstuff.com/ follow the 'how do i part'.

here's where ya can find the facts on your mercruiser.... http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=251571
ya need #1. this is a real large file, over 1gb so give it time to load. if yer gonna work on your boat. an oem service manual is a must have item. ya can also try ebay to get it i the book form, or mercruiser can sell ya one too...

forget about using auto parts on your boat. use only marine parts. though you can get marine parts at auto stores like napa and the likes. just be sure they're marine parts. personaly i like to shop at the mercruiser store for oem parts. they seem to work best....

i've got a 72 trisonic in my back yard as a restore project. bet it's real similar to your cobalt.... i've always liked my trisonic. a real good handler....

use this forum a lot. there's much info to be obtained here and many folks willing to help with any question you have.... good luck....

Re: 1971 Cobalt questions

Hey guys, thanks for the info. I kinda figured the engine, even tho a GM engine, is supposed to use marine grade parts.Just wasn't sure which stuff could be used. My background is more auto than marine, so this is a new stretch for me. Good to know tho. Haven't really gotten into it too far so as it progresses I'm sure you'll be seeing my posts. Only regret I can't offer up much help to anyone in kind. Maybe in the future.... See yaz