I have a 1979 19" Cobalt, beautiful condition, with a 1979 185 OMC engine and an 800 Sterndrive stringer outdrive that has stripped tilt/trim gears but the forwards and reverse gears work fine. I found the engine block had been patched prior to my purchase. I paid $1280 for the boat, I don't feel too bad about it, it came on a tandem axle ez loader and the interior couldn't be in better shape, no stains, no tears, everything is there, all gauges lights work etc. I was lied to, I would value this package as is more around 800 but it is what it is.
After shopping for a different boat for $3000 or less I decided I wasn't going to find a boat as nice as the one I have so I need to get a new motor/outdrive set up for my boat.
Found a drop in motor, same motor, same vintage, for $1800 with $250 shipping on top of that. I'd still have to replace that rod in the crappy stringer out drive.
Ideally I would like to put a Mercruiser engine (around 200hp) in there instead with an outdrive. I'm willing to tackle rebuilding my perfectly good transom to gain reliability and parts support.
What used engine/outdrive should I be shopping for? I'd like to pay less than $3000 for the total package. I'm looking at donor boats and engines on pallets.
I don't know anything about marine engines or boats in general. I have read about redoing the transom, I have a good shop here at my house to work on it inside over the next year. I really could use advice about which engines have better reliability, are more common, have better parts support? I want a V8 and would consider going as high as 260hp in this boat, but 180 would be fine too.
Also any advice regarding how to proceed with prepping the boat for the transom rebuild, different techniques, for instance: Do I need to do the whole thing? Can I just fill the hole I have in there and cut a new one? etc... I know people have done it both ways, I want this boat to last a long time and I don't want to have to do this again.
I figure if I do this myself, at least when I am done I'll know what I have. I wouldn't bother if the boat interior and hull weren't in such great condition, really its ruined smaller boats in my price range for me, now that we've had this boat, we want to keep it.
I'll post some pics just for fun. Thanks for any help and/or advice in advance. I'd welcome any opinions/knowledge about any of this sort of stuff at this point.
After shopping for a different boat for $3000 or less I decided I wasn't going to find a boat as nice as the one I have so I need to get a new motor/outdrive set up for my boat.
Found a drop in motor, same motor, same vintage, for $1800 with $250 shipping on top of that. I'd still have to replace that rod in the crappy stringer out drive.
Ideally I would like to put a Mercruiser engine (around 200hp) in there instead with an outdrive. I'm willing to tackle rebuilding my perfectly good transom to gain reliability and parts support.
What used engine/outdrive should I be shopping for? I'd like to pay less than $3000 for the total package. I'm looking at donor boats and engines on pallets.
I don't know anything about marine engines or boats in general. I have read about redoing the transom, I have a good shop here at my house to work on it inside over the next year. I really could use advice about which engines have better reliability, are more common, have better parts support? I want a V8 and would consider going as high as 260hp in this boat, but 180 would be fine too.
Also any advice regarding how to proceed with prepping the boat for the transom rebuild, different techniques, for instance: Do I need to do the whole thing? Can I just fill the hole I have in there and cut a new one? etc... I know people have done it both ways, I want this boat to last a long time and I don't want to have to do this again.
I figure if I do this myself, at least when I am done I'll know what I have. I wouldn't bother if the boat interior and hull weren't in such great condition, really its ruined smaller boats in my price range for me, now that we've had this boat, we want to keep it.
I'll post some pics just for fun. Thanks for any help and/or advice in advance. I'd welcome any opinions/knowledge about any of this sort of stuff at this point.