'93 Four Winns 23' BR

[ScubaGuy]

(This forum is amazing!) I'm thinking about buying a low hour 1993 bowrider. It has the 5.7L King Cobra with OMC outdrive. My concerns are about the OMC. If I have to rebuild, will parts for the OMC be available? Also, is a shop manual available? Or should I completely avoid this boat, and go with Mercruiser power plants? My only history with OMC is when they used balljoints for tilt. Thanks.

 

[Don S]

Re: '93 Four Winns 23' BR

Parts are still readily available for the 5.7 and the Cobra drive. Finding someone locally to rebuild the drive (If needed at some point) could be a real trick, but parts are there.<br />Seloc has a manual for that engine and outdrive.

 

[lakelivin]

Re: '93 Four Winns 23' BR

http://www.funkopolis.com:8080/~stuart/cobra/ <br /><br />Folllow above link for as much info on Cobra outdrives as you could possibly want. <br /><br />Unless you are planning on doing any needed outdrive work on the Cobra yourself, I suggest you make sure you've got a mechanic at a local repair shop that has real Cobra expertise before you make a final decision on buying the boat.<br /><br />I don't know what specifically to ask, but make sure it's more than just 'do you have experience working on Cobra outdrives?' Boy did I get burned by taking a 'yes' answer to that question as sufficient to have my Cobra serviced by a shop that really didn't know Cobras at all.<br /><br />If you read the Stuart Hastings link you know that Cobras of this era had some problems. It developed a bad reputation that may have been due more to inexperienced people working on the drive (unfamiliar with Cobras) than to the drive itself.<br /><br />A quote from Stuart: 'Regardless of the evident technical merit of the Cobra, if nobody can be trusted to fix them, they become worthless as sterndrives.'<br /><br />Just a suggestion based on personal experience. <br />By the way, I've got an 1989 4.3L Cobra. Never had a problem with it till a shop left it about 40% low when they changed the drive oil last summer and the gears and bearings got trashed.

 

[ScubaGuy]

Re: '93 Four Winns 23' BR

Boy that was fast response. I love it. Ok, so I've checked the boat out, and it looks awesome for a 1993. The article by Stuart Hastings said 1993 was a pivotal year for OMC outdrives and the sale to Volvo. I ran into a guy TODAY who has the identical boat, but in a 1994, and he thought my boat was probably already a Volvo, even though it says OMC King Cobra on the outside. Is that possible? Finally, any other "gotcha's" on this boat? Four Winns has a good reputation for that era, but it's my first Four Winns.

 

[ScubaGuy]

Re: '93 Four Winns 23' BR

lakelivin -- are you near Lake Norman?

 

[Lou C]

Re: '93 Four Winns 23' BR

First you have to make sure what drive it is, the original 86-93 dog clutch model or the joint venture 94 and on one. Most likely it is the dog clutch (pure OMC) model. So you have to make sure you can find a shop that knows them well. Shift adjustment is tricky and critical. Once set up right they are good. The Kings were in 2 varities, big block King is the one that is hard to get parts for. The boats are good, I have an 88, check for all the typical old boat problems, esp wood rot in the floors and transom.

 

[lakelivin]

Re: '93 Four Winns 23' BR

Scuba, no, I live on Hyco Lake up near the NC Virginia border. Out in the boondocks, but great as far as boat traffic relative to lakes near the big cities!<br /><br />Lou C, how would someone unfamiliar with OMCs make sure a shop has the requisit experience to trust one with? Any specific questions you can suggest to separate the wheat from the chaff? I got burnt just asking a shop if they were familiar with OMCs, they said they were, they weren't, and it cost me. So I figure it might help others considering OMCs if we could come up with a list of questions to help ensure there really is qualified help in their area.

 

[Lou C]

Re: '93 Four Winns 23' BR

Well that is a difficult question, since you have to be knowledgable first yourself to be able to judge if the person you are interviewing is also. You could ask if they were an OMC dealer back when OMC was in business, did they attend the service school on the Cobra drives, and ask certain questions that may give you what you need to know. Like "do you fill a Cobra just like a Merc, from the bottom?" and "is the shift linkage adjustment on a Cobra just like a Merc Alpha"? If yes to both questions, go elsewhere, but if an emphatic NO, and a reasonable explanation, that may be the right place. You want to see if they know the difference between them What I did is that I would go in and buy tune up parts, drive oil, shop manual, etc and every so often talk to these guys (the local OMC shop that does the Cobras, and Johnnyrudes). I realized all the advice they gave me was right on, and I could tell they knew what they were talking about, but this took time to evaluate. So far I have had a great experience with them.