Volvo Penta Outdrive rebuild or swap??

[Kabbes6]

Have a buddy with a 97 Fourwinns bowrider. Has a 3.0L Mercruiser motor with a Volvo Penta SX Cobra outdrive. He says the outdrive blew the top end and screwed up the bottom end as well needs a full rebuild. I know nothing about boats. Have rebuild lots of motors but never got into boats. Would it be better to rebuild the outsdrive or swap it out for one?? Looking at the price of used working volvo outdrives of 5 grand seems like there is a better option. Wondering if you can put a Mercruiser outdrive on the boat?? There seems to be lots of them around. what all needs to be down to swap them out??

thanks,

 

[Scott Danforth]

if you swapped to a Mercruiser Drive, or even an SEI, you need to replace everything drive related and exhaust related. That is a fair amount of work

lack of maintenance is what most likely killed the drive

best bet is find a used drive in good condition.

 

[Kabbes6]

Thanks for the reply. We have found a loner boat same vintage and motor but with e mercruiser outdrive. Would that all bolt up or would it still be a lot of work??

 

[briangcc]

As Scott said, you're comparing apples and bananas. They're completely different animals.

Having had both now, I prefer Volvo - its much smoother shifting. Downside is, as you've found, the parts price is astronomical for anything Volvo.

What size boat? You might be better off finding a 4.3L donor and swap everything over. I've yet to hear anyone say I wish I had a smaller engine on their boat.

 

[Kabbes6]

Gotcha gotcha. Yeah i like the sounds of more power. Thanks for the info will keep looking around.