OMC Cobra vs. King Cobra

[taylormcgovern]

Hi i have a 1988 stinray with a 460 OMC King Cobra in it. My upper gearcase is shot and i need a new one. My question is this, is my drive a Cobra or a King Cobra and how come all the upper gear housings i see for sale dont match my OEM number off the outdrive. The model number on it is 985275 and the serial number is T0586444. Anybody know what im doing wrong?

 

[Don S]

Re: OMC Cobra vs. King Cobra

All the 460's had King Cobra's, the only thing is they had 2 completely different drives called King Cobra.
One with a cone clutch and one with the standard dog clutch.
Do you have the ESA system (for shift interrupt system) on your engine? If so, then you have the dog clutch.

 

[taylormcgovern]

Re: OMC Cobra vs. King Cobra

What does the ESA look like ... i think i have it. So are you saying that there is no such thing as a KING COBRA upper Housing there is just a Cobra upper housing.

 

[Dakota47]

Re: OMC Cobra vs. King Cobra

He is saying there is a King cobra with the cone clutch & there is the King cobra with the dog clutch, they are completelly different than the standerd Omc cobra outdrive..

 

[Dakota47]

Re: OMC Cobra vs. King Cobra

Here is the housing e-bay item#140138894036

 

[taylormcgovern]

Re: OMC Cobra vs. King Cobra

My upper gear housing has a round sticker on either side saying OMC cobra, not KING COBRA ... I still dont get it ... Will a Cobra upper gear housing fit my lower unit and motor even though it says King Cobra on the engine and power trim arms. I have found lots of omc COBRA upper gear housings for a 460 7.5l V8 but the serial number is different then mine. And the gear ratios match my upper housing 21:17

 

[Coors]

Re: OMC Cobra vs. King Cobra

Hold on; Rick will stop by soon.

 

[Dakota47]

Re: OMC Cobra vs. King Cobra

Taylor, if i remember correctly the cobra outdrive gears are in the lower unit, the King cobra gears are in the upper unit.. like coors said more help is on the way..

 

[Rob454]

Re: OMC Cobra vs. King Cobra

Taylor, if i remember correctly the cobra outdrive gears are in the lower unit, the King cobra gears are in the upper unit.. like coors said more help is on the way..

Wait a minute. I have a cobra outdrive. I took off the top plate where the small dip stick is and there are gears under there.

i think the guy is asking if he can use a cobra case or does he need a King Cobra case and what are the differences between them.

From what I understood it was the gears that were different but I dotn know
Rob

 

[Dakota47]

Re: OMC Cobra vs. King Cobra

I have a cobra too and the Shift cable goes to the lower unit where the Main gears are.. i think the king cobra is different..

 

[Coors]

Re: OMC Cobra vs. King Cobra

wait for Rick, a king is different from a cobra.

 

[Boatin Bob]

Re: OMC Cobra vs. King Cobra

You have a dog clutch Cobra. Another upper from a Cobra will fit yours but the gear ratio will be wrong as stated above you need 21:17. That model # 985275 indicates 1988 7.5 drive with power steering, they changed the model #'s each year. You won't find anywhere on the drive KING Cobra only on the flame arrestor cover. The lower unit is bigger than a standard Cobra and holds more oil.

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: OMC Cobra vs. King Cobra

Howdy,​

The King Cobra (460, 1.43:1 model) was made from 1987-1989 All dogs as far as I know.​

Mine is an 87 and a Dog (clutch) Mine also used the ESA. It worked fine.​

I think there was King models later that may have been cone type but they were 454 models.​

Mine is sitting on a pallet resting right now. It came on my boat new (brother bought it new)​

I have a lot of King Cobra 460 stuff I don't need. (PM me if you want any of it)​

The ESA by the way is behind and to the port of the carb. .....little black epoxy potted thing with wires and a plug that connects to the shift plate (the thing with solenoids on it)​

Cheers,​

Rick​

 

[taylormcgovern]

Re: OMC Cobra vs. King Cobra

OK so im still confused. Did they make a COBRA, not a king cobra, upper gear housing for a 7.5L 460? Because im having a very hard time finding a KING COBRA upper gear housing. I see lots of upper gear housings for sale that say they work with a 7.5L 460 with 21:17 gears which are the same gears that mine uses.

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: OMC Cobra vs. King Cobra

Do you have an OMC service manual and parts catalog?
I'm not home right now (in fact I'm not even in my home state ) so I don't have access to my service manual and parts list.

You can go to Doug Russell . There's a very good, search-able parts list that you can have a look at.

Compare the part numbers with other models such as the 5.0/5.8 engines and drives and you can probably answer that question.

The drives for the 5.0/5.8 were 1.41:1 I believe and would probably work with your 460.

Also,

There is a "Break point" that Don mentioned. This is where OMC and Volvo teamed up to produce sterndrives (actually if I'm not mistaken) Volvo took the whole mess over.

The newer OMC SX drives were produced wholly by Volvo. Again, If I'm not mistaken they WILL NOT just bolt right up to an older Cobra gimbal. I think there's a way to use a Volvo SX but that requires a kit. (which I think they do not make anymore) AND I don't think they ever had one that worked with the 460/King.

The 460 King is an absolute dinosaur (sorry! ) in that there's certain parts that are simply not available (like the exhaust manifolds and coupler) unless you find used or new old stock.


Most of the OMC guys that have had these drives apart can tell you which uppers will bolt to other lowers. I would ensure that you have return/replacement rights before buying something.

I would get a complete drive since they share the oil top to bottom and if you had a lower destroy itself you'll need to rebuild the upper and vice-versa........

Regards,


Rick

 

[Dakota47]

Re: OMC Cobra vs. King Cobra

Here is a upper gear housing for a KING COBRA on e-bay,, here is the item number 140138894036