need advise/suggestions

[hadvisor]

My wife and I have been looking for a different boat-been wanting a cuddy. We really like the four winns sundowner 205, found one that I could get a great deal on-good trade in on my boat-the only problem is it is omc. I'm only familiar with mercruiser. The boat has a 5.8 omc 260hp and its an 89. I'm not trying to start a war or anything-how should I feel about this motor-parts/common problems....you get the picture. Sticking to that boat size(19-20) any other cuddy suggestions??Thanks

 

[alternative]

Re: need advise/suggestions

Let me tell you... Nothing is wrong with OMC... I recently purchased a 88 Fourwinns 205 Sundowner same boat you're lookin at... yea some would say omc is hard to find parts for but if you know any thing about Omc )parts are avialiable and its not a bad engine. At one time OMC was the engine to have... and yea i;ve heard the horror stories and the ohhhh ohh you cant get parts ... bull! i get parts all day long for this engine and there are a lot of OMC mechanics out there..<br />In regards to the boat itself... Fourwinns is a awesome boat.. it runs like a Caddilac... and the features are sweet.. classy and solid. For a cuddy i would say youre on the right track.. i looked at many others before purchasing the fourwinns and all were inferior.. LOVE fourwinns...great boat.. just my opinion..?GOOD LUCK

 

[KaGee]

Re: need advise/suggestions

OMC and most Merc engines are basically the same Chevy 4 cyl or Small block format. <br /><br />Merc uses Ford too, but '80s vintage OMC was all Chevy as far as I know.<br /><br />BTW... that would be a 5.7L / 350 Chevy V8.

 

[RedRangerVIP]

Re: need advise/suggestions

My 87 VIP has teh OMC with a Ford 4cyl. Not a drag boat by no means, but I enjoy it.<br /> As far as parts & service for the OMC outdrive; I haven't had a lick of trouble finding the parts I needed so far.<br /> My buddy has a FourWinns and loves it. I say never fear! <br /><br />If you need it for work,or you want it for play,it costs $$.<br />Larry

 

[lakelivin]

Re: need advise/suggestions

http://www.funkopolis.com:8080/~stuart/cobra/ <br /><br />Above link compiled by Stuart Hastings will give you probably all of the background info on Cobra outdrives you could possibly want. <br /><br />Unless you are planning on doing all 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?' I got 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 />Perhaps others on this forum more knowlegedable than me could provide some basic questions to ask a shop that would give you an accuarate feel for their true level of expertise with the Cobra outdrive.<br /><br />If you read the above link you'll see that Cobras of this era had some problems that may have been due more to inexperienced people working on the drive (unfamiliar with Cobras) than to the drive itself, and it therefore developed a bad reputation in some circles. <br /><br />By the way, I've got an 1989 4.3L Cobra. Never had a problem with it till a local shop left it about 40% low when they changed the drive oil last summer and the gears and bearings got trashed. From now on, for anything I don't do myself I'll be making the 1.5 hour drive to a trustworthy Cobra repair shop a couple of towns over.<br /><br />I'm sure there are excellent Cobra mechanics out there (as reinforced by the obvious expertise of many of the mechanics posting to these boards), just make sure there's one close enough to you to conveniently work on your Cobra should you decide to go that route.

 

[hadvisor]

Re: need advise/suggestions

Thanks for the info - Like I said I'm not trying to start a war. I love the looks of the boat - the price range is great. The only problem is that my trusted mechanic that is about 3 blocks from my house told me that he really doesnt have much experience with omc - its always hard to find another trusted service center...

 

[tommays]

Re: need advise/suggestions

your big real concern should be if the boat recived good care from its current owner if everything was kept up with it should be no more problem than any boat of the same age<br /><br /><br />your second concern should be if there is a shop that can service things correctly in the future that you trust if not it is something to thing about<br /><br />some owners can make anything last for ever <br />i have see other owners make a boat almost useless in less than 2 years<br /><br />tommays

 

[rodbolt]

Re: need advise/suggestions

hello<br /> if it is a 5.8 its a 351 ford. ford pulled out of the marine market in the late 9o's. drive parts are still easy to get. make sure the lower shift cable is red and the bellows and ujoint maint has been performed. in your area with no salt I cant say much about the manifolds and risers. here riser are junk in 3 years and manifolds by 5.<br /> good luck and keep posting

 

[Bondo]

Re: need advise/suggestions

Around Here,<br />Any boat that is OMC outdrive powered is Worth 40% to 60% LESS than the Same boat powered by Mercuiser or Volvo.........<br /><br />In other words,<br />You Can't Give Away an OMC powered Boat......

 

[lakelivin]

Re: need advise/suggestions

Originally posted by hadvisor:<br /> Thanks for the info - Like I said I'm not trying to start a war. I love the looks of the boat - the price range is great. The only problem is that my trusted mechanic that is about 3 blocks from my house told me that he really doesnt have much experience with omc - its always hard to find another trusted service center...

I don't think you're starting any wars. Although I've only been here a short time it seems like a great forum. From what I've seem when people have different thoughts & ideas they tend to state them, but it's more like discussions than wars (outside of the political threads, lol).<br /><br />One option to help in your consideration might be this: if your mechanic is good, trusted, and thorough enough to deal patiently with a drive unfamiliar to him , print out what Stuart has compiled (hints and OMC service bulletins) and show it to him. Let him give you his opinion as to whether he would feel comfortable dealing with a Cobra drive given that info. And also whether he has (or if it would be practical for him to get) any specific OMC tools that might be required. If not, whether he could personally recommend a trusted OMC shop within close range.<br /><br />If it looks positive, you might even be able to use Bondos point about resale to help negotiate a lower price 'cause of the Cobra.<br /><br />If not, here is what Stuart mentioned when discussing Cobra maintenance & repair: "Regardless of the evident technical merit of the Cobra, if nobody can be trusted to fix them, they become worthless as sterndrives."<br /> <br />Good luck.

 

[Doug Durako]

Re: need advise/suggestions

I would first talk to the mechanic that worked on this specific boat.<br /><br />Then, you need to decide if you are going to learn about Cobra drives, inside and out.<br /><br />If you do your own work, you'll be okay.<br /><br />If not, get yourself into the mid 1990s and go with a Merc or Volvo drive that has been taken care of. Well worth the investment up front.<br /><br />Lots of boats for sale right now, and when it starts getting frosty, the prices go down.

 

[KaGee]

Re: need advise/suggestions

Originally posted by tommays:<br /> your big real concern should be if the boat recived good care from its current owner... some owners can make anything last for ever <br />i have see other owners make a boat almost useless in less than 2 years<br /><br />tommays

Tom hit the nail on the head.

 

[Doug Durako]

Re: need advise/suggestions

Hadvisor---have you considered Mariah boats? My brother has a well-cared-for 1993 22 foot Mariah with cutty he is selling for less than $10K. It has the 350 magnum Chevy with Alpha drive----bullet proof. He lives near Bloomington, Illinois.

 

[Lou C]

Re: need advise/suggestions

I have an 88 Horizon 200 bowrider (same hull as the 205 Sundowner) with the 4.3 OMC. With the 5.8 it should be plenty fast. I have a very good OMC shop that does the shift adjustment for me. I do the tune ups, winterizing, drive oil change, etc. You need to find out if common replacement parts are available for the Ford 5.8/351. I know that Volvo did use it for a few years after they bought out the OMC sterndrive division. I have not had any trouble getting the parts I needed, but I do know that the one piece exhaust manifolds used on the 85-90 4.3s are on national backorder, not available until Dec. I would check around and see if you can find a shop that was an OMC dealer and had a tech that went to the service school, and is familiar with the shifting problems and service bulletins. As Bondo said, the resale will never be as good as a Volvo or Merc. The boat is high quality and handles rough water very well for its size. A well set up Cobra drive is just fine. Read through all of Stuart Hastings's stuff and go talk to mechanics, if you get the feeling that none of them want to fix Cobras, find another boat.

 

[Lou C]

Re: need advise/suggestions

PS looks like the 5.8 Ford was used by both OMC and Volvo until 1996. Check around and make sure you can still get manifolds, risers, tune up parts, and commonly replaced drive partsl like impellers, etc. I know OMC used an oddball Spitfire ignition system in certain years that used a control module that is no longer available, the others used regular points and condenser. I'd avoid it if it had the Spitfire since if the ECM goes bad you'd have to convert to the points system which is expensive. Go over to www.dougrussell.com to view parts diagrams and check availability.

 

[alternative]

Re: need advise/suggestions

Dont worry Just get it and have fun>>>>

 

[waterone1@aol.com]

Re: need advise/suggestions

I had a 1987 bayliner that was omc powered. The engine is a ford, and parts are easy to get. The drive did develope a problem,and after trying in vain to get it serviced locally, I sent it off to jasper for service. It came back in great shape and worked for a few seasons, untill I sold the boat. One thing Jasper did tell me was that the casings were getting very difficult to find.....something to think about. I do have to agree with Bondo, whether it is real or just perceived, people are squeemish about purchasing omc powered boats, you could get hurt on resale down the line.