OMC to Mercruiser swap

[mikebenz]

I am looking at buying a 1992 Chris Craft 30ft express cruiser with twin 5.7L OMC engines. They have 360 hours on them. It is hard to find a mechanic around here to work on OMC motors and drives. I live in Missouri and will keep the boat at the Lake of the Ozarks. I prefer Mercruiser outdrives and have had excellent experiences with them on my runabout and my last cruiser. Will Mercruiser drives bolt up to the existing 5.7L blocks? The boat is in excellent shape and I plan on owning my next boat for a long time.
(I've had my '84 Celebrity 210 bowrider for 14 yrs and had an '85 IMP X270SE for 10 years.) Thanks, Mike

 

[jerryjerry05]

Re: OMC to Mercruiser swap

No. They are a lot of differences.It would cost a bunch to change them over.The only thing that would probably work is the motor it self.Jerry

 

[wil7483]

Re: OMC to Mercruiser swap

Yeah, you'll have to change everything on the engines to Mercruiser stuff. New mans, risers, exhaust tubes, and transom assembly. I converted my boat from OMC King Cobra to Mercruiser and just started from scratch and scrapped all the OMC stuff.

 

[mikebenz]

Re: OMC to Mercruiser swap

Thank you for the info. I will see how much to change it out before I buy the boat. I am not sure I want the OMC's.

 

[rock_doctor]

Re: OMC to Mercruiser swap

There is nothing wrong with OMC's. You need to find a shop that has been around for a while and then find the oldest mechanic. I'll be he was OMC certified. You can find every part you will need to keep the OMC's running with the exception of the trim sender. Everything else is available from the aftermarket, Volvo or Bombardier (this includes whole new drives). The other side of the fence...when it comes time to replace the drive package. The Merc will install into the same hole with the only need to drill two extra bolt holes. If the price is good go for it.

 

[mikebenz]

Re: OMC to Mercruiser swap

The price is good. That is why I am inquiring about the swap. I am sure the OMC's still have a lot of time on them, but am worried about replacement parts and a guy to work on them when I do have a problem. I live a couple hours away from the lake and don't have the time or place to do maintenance myself. (I changed the outdrive on my runabout in my driveway) Thanks for the information,
Mike

 

[wil7483]

Re: OMC to Mercruiser swap

Run from it!!!!! Everything said is true but.........mechanics who will work on them charge more. They also will not warranty any work done on OMC's. You can find some parts but they are grossly overpriced due to the rarity of them. You can not find OMC Ford 460 manifolds at all! No one makes them anymore.

Unless you you have an additional couple of grands to convert it to a Mercruiser setup I say save your money until you can find one with a Merc setup installed.

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: OMC to Mercruiser swap

You might be OK if those drives are 92 "King Cobras" I.E. if they have the "hump" in the top of the drive. They'll be cone clutch drives. If they're "Dog-Clutch" drives....well, you don't want them. Parts for some early cone clutch drives are also pretty scarce and NOT VP interchangeable.....

Also, if the engines are electronic spark control engines....A lot of the ignition parts are hard to find.

You may be able to put VP drives on it but it won't be cheap.

If you pretend that it has NO engines or drives and price it accordingly you may be ok....

A boat like that would be awesome with 383's and Bravo III's in it!!


Cheers,


Rick

OMC

Bravo

 

[bamadave]

Re: OMC to Mercruiser swap

Why would you buy something that is quickly becoming obsolete. Just wait for the right boat to come along. OMC parts are getting hard to find, I have no idea why someone would post you'll have no problems with the OMC's. At some point, the parts will be impossible to find.