1983 OMC 200hp Engines

[Duraflame]

I'm considering purchasing a boat that has two 200HP OMC (as the owner described), but I imagine they are actually Evinrude engines. He said he had the carbs rebuilt in 2006. He also said that one of the trims doesn't stay up, it slowly lowers. Other than the trim issue, what other items should I be concerned about with these engines. Should I have them rebuilt, and what would that cost be?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

 

[boobie]

Re: 1983 OMC 200hp Engines

From the pic it looks like they are Sea Drives. Stay AWAY from them. Nothing but probs.

 

[matt167]

Re: 1983 OMC 200hp Engines

Yep, they look like Sea Drives to me too, and that would explain the OMC designation, as they were not badged as Evinrude/ Johnson, they were badged as OMC. The Outboard parts are available, but the Seadrive specific parts are NLA.

 

[klutchboy]

Re: 1983 OMC 200hp Engines

Dura flame , these motors are johnson/evinrude power heads on OMC seadrive brackets, and dont listen to the negative information some people might give regarding these, all parts for the engines are still available , and I have found any component I have ever needed for the seadrive brackets/hydraulics on ebay, having said that, if you are mechanically inclined then you will have no issues, if your take your boats to a mechanic for any and everything you wlll find some resistance to working on the seadrive units, these are actually a great design and was ahead of its time, hard to tell from the pics but they appear to be in good shape, one of the biggest issue is the steering cylinders, I would plan on installing two new teleflex cylinders, and upgrade to the new VRO pumps, Crowley marine is a great resource for parts, I have done restorations on several of these, you can get some boats pretty cheap with these motors cause people are afraid of them, and if they cant do the work themselves its probably warranted, how many hours on them ? how much $ ?

 

[boobie]

Re: 1983 OMC 200hp Engines

A good Gill Bracket on the back of the boat with two mtrs would would have been far better than all garbage that made the Sea Drive function. Why do you think OMC stopped producing them ??

 

[klutchboy]

Re: 1983 OMC 200hp Engines

Granted, they were a little over engineered ! but in my experience the bracket system is fairly reliable except for the actual tilt/trim motor which only cost $100 to replace, they stopped making them because they went out of business, a lot of the problems that people had were due to dealers installing them to low, with better management at the helm of OMC I'm sure we would be seeing a more refined version of the seadrive today, if you have decent mechanical abilities there is some money to be made and some good boats to be had for very low prices with these engines, my last acquisition was a 1984 Grady White 252 sailfish with twin 235 seadrives with 440 hours on it, purchased for $3,500. it cost me less than $1,000. to get it running, obviously this is not for everyone but I will take them ! nothing better than a full transom and open fishing area !

 

[Duraflame]

Re: 1983 OMC 200hp Engines

Thank you all who contributed, your advice has been extremely helpful.

The motors are attached to a 1983 Tiara Pursuit 2500, which from all the photos i have seen looks great. Comes with two electric down riggers, all electronics and tons of salmon gear, and a dual axle trailer. I wouldn't be buying the boat, but rather i'd be trading my 1996 OMC Roughneck 175, which has a 1996 90hp Evinrude, Minn Kota Terrova I-Pilot, Lowrance GPS sonar. My boat is a deep V that handles pretty big water for it's size, but I'm looking to upgrade in size. I use mine on Lake Michigan, but i have to pick my days very carefully. With the larger boat, i can haul it up for the weekend, sleep on it, and fish rougher seas. I just don't want to get into a maintenance nightmare, or have to repower the boat.

If i did repower it, i'd install a single 200-300hp main with a 9.9 kicker for trolling.