New to Volvo Penta. Outdrive Swap Questions

[thegrizzly1]

Great site everyone. New to it and already learned a ton of information.

I have the opportunity to pick up a 78 Bayliner 22.5' with the 350 coupled to a AQ280 drive. It was not properly winterized and the block froze and cracked. I am not worried about that as an engine swap is will within my ability. What I am worried about is I know there is water in the outdrive, and I am going to assume there has been for some time. I have read the 280's are overall a decent drive, very reliable, smooth shifting... No trim is a pain but bearable. Now to the meat of my question.

1.) Are there other outdrive legs that will bolt up to the 280 transom plate? 2.) I am a little confused with the term transom shield I keep reading about. Is that the same as the inner transom assembly on a mercruiser setup?

I like the idea of being able to use small block Chevy base components for the engine, but was wondering if it was worth it (buying the boat) if the outdrive is in questionable condition. Ideally I would like to upgrade to something newer with trim. I would assume I am looking at a complete drive assembly at this point? I realize some of these questions are pretty general, but being new to V/P's I don't know what year engines work with what drives.

Thanks for any constructive feedback and once again, thanks for a great forum.

 

[Don S]

Re: New to Volvo Penta. Outdrive Swap Questions

There really isn't any inner transom plate like Mercruiser has. On Mercs, the rear mounts set on the inner transom plate. On Volvos, the flywheel cover goes through the transom shield and acts as the rear mount. If you wanted to go to a Volvo drive with trim, you could either look for 280 with power trim. Not many, or the 290 and newer up to about 94. You would have to cut the transom hole a little larger. But to go to a newer style Volvo SX or Mercruiser drive, you would need a new transom and to cut a hole smaller than what you have now.