Removed the Wrong Screw

[Lou C]

I think boats today while harder to service seem to be better built vs the older wood core/fiberglass construction. My neighbor has a 2005 Key West 2020 DC with a Yamaha 150 and the boat and structure look nearly new. Fully foam filled so it is also safer than older boats. She's owned it since new and it's been a very low maintenance boat for her. Agreed that 80s Bayliners were not built well at least not the smaller boats. The large ones seemed to be better built. However most other mass market boats in the same size range weren't much better than Bayliner. After 15 years the rot really starts to take hold with that type of construction unless you are in an arid climate. Here we have more or less constant moisture so wood/glass construction with carpeted decks and lousy lay up lasts 10-15 years before the deck rots. When I re-did mine I got rid of the crappy carpet and had the deck done in non-skid gelcoat and it is still solid 15 years after it was done, because the moisture can evaporate. Carpet decks over wood will always rot in this climate.
The NLA parts issue is not confined to OMC by any stretch. If you look back 15 years you will find NLA parts for Merc and Volvo too. Especially ECMs for EFI systems and electronic ignition. In fact a few have had to convert back to a carb from EFI due to NLA EFI parts for Volvo.
To me owning an old boat is like owning a classic muscle car or hot rod. Keeping some parts on hand is just part of it. Got a nice Holley 4160 4bbl sitting on a shelf in my garage, spare Prestolite points distributor, spare mechanical fuel pump the spare drive, complete transom mount, exhaust Y pipe, trim lines, pump, basically all of it. The sum total of investment of spare parts is less than $2000. I buy stuff when I see the price being right and I know I can re-sell it if I don't need it.

 

[88 Capri (2022 SOTY)]

Lou with your experience what is a fair price for a good used OMC drive.

 

[bruceb58]

Bayliners crappy quality is an understatement!
That is why I had to gut the boat and rebuild it but newer boat prices are ridiculous and this was the only way I'd have a boat.
Maybe one day I can have a newer one but not having a payment is nice lol.

Agreed...never had a boat payment in my life. Even the Cobalt R5 we just bought was all cash. If I could get a low interest rate, it might be different.

 

[bruceb58]

The NLA parts issue is not confined to OMC by any stretch. If you look back 15 years you will find NLA parts for Merc and Volvo too. Especially ECMs for EFI systems and electronic ignition. In fact a few have had to convert back to a carb from EFI due to NLA EFI parts for Volvo.

For Volvos, that mainly pertains to the joint venture drives with OMC. On my 1998 Volvo however, I never had an NLA part and that included the 7.4L oil cooler I replaced right before I sold it.

As far as the ECMs, ignition modules and EFI, that was all due to Volvos with Ford motors and Ford exiting the marine market in the mid 90s.

 

[Bob Sander]

Well Bruce I guess our experience was different then. Maybe because my former mechanics (since retired) were able to set it up perfectly right after I bought this boat in 2002. They set up the shift linkage, replaced some leaky trim lines and a bearing carrier that caused a leak. After that it has had NO repairs, not one, in over 15 years. All I've done is normal maintenance, chaning gear oil, pulling the drive, bellows changed, impeller done every 3 seasons etc. And this boat has sat in salt water for 6 months each season, for all that time.

I quite agree. The Cobra is a good and reliable drive. Of course the problem is that omc is out of business, but that doesn't necessarily reflect on the drive itself. My cobra is 34 years old and still working just fine. Indeed there are still a lot of cobra's around. Enough so that forums like this still have an "OMC" subforum and it's getting used daily.

As for bayliners being badly built... well, that may or may not be true. But I don't really care what kind of boat it is, it's going to have a bit of wood rot in it if it's 30(+) years old.

Of course I was never that impressed with the quality of the cabin area... which is why it's being gutted and rebuilt right now, but at the end of the day I am a both a proud and satisfied bayliner/cobra drive owner, and it really doesn't matter what other people have to say.

But alas.. I digress. What I really want to know is how and why this "remove the wrong screw" thread got turned into a bayliner/cobra bashing thread?

 

[Lou C]

Lou with your experience what is a fair price for a good used OMC drive.

for a complete usable Cobra, $900 to $1200 or so. When I was thinking of converting it over to a Volvo SX the best prices on those I could find were $3500 and then I still had to buy other parts to make it work like the pivot housing, raw water pump, etc. So after all was said and done, to do a Cobra to Volvo SX conversion would have cost approx $4500 or so. Long term a good solution but when I still have a good usable Cobra on the boat and could pick up a spare for $900 to eliminate any NLA parts issues that was an easy choice for me. So with the spare drive ($900) and complete transom assembly ($450) no matter what breaks/wears out, its not going to ruin my boating season which here in the north east is only 6 months at best. The other stuff I collected, all of it, is also stuff that if it breaks/wears out etc will keep you from boating. Just anothe way of doing it if you have time and don't mind fixing old stuff.
Now of course if I bought a new or newer boat, there is NO question in my mind, it will be Mercury or Yamaha powered, whichever seems to be making the best outboards at the time. With boats the best power package to have is what can be easily serviced/parts supported to avoid down time.
Any small block Chevrolets I have in the future will be in a classic musclecar/hot rod where they belong. What's been done to I/Os in the name of technology/pollution control makes them unattractive to me to own because with all the increased parts cost, difficult access, etc, there are still the designed in drawbacks of I/Os.

 

[88 Capri (2022 SOTY)]

I quite agree. The Cobra is a good and reliable drive. Of course the problem is that omc is out of business, but that doesn't necessarily reflect on the drive itself. My cobra is 34 years old and still working just fine. Indeed there are still a lot of cobra's around. Enough so that forums like this still have an "OMC" subforum and it's getting used daily.

As for bayliners being badly built... well, that may or may not be true. But I don't really care what kind of boat it is, it's going to have a bit of wood rot in it if it's 30(+) years old.

Of course I was never that impressed with the quality of the cabin area... which is why it's being gutted and rebuilt right now, but at the end of the day I am a both a proud and satisfied bayliner/cobra drive owner, and it really doesn't matter what other people have to say.

But alas.. I digress. What I really want to know is how and why this "remove the wrong screw" thread got turned into a bayliner/cobra bashing thread?

We're not bashing just talking about our real world experiences with them and that screw started it lol.
Sometimes threads take a tangent but everything is a learning experience and I'm glad it went astray!

 

[Bob Sander]

We're not bashing just talking about our real world experiences with them and that screw started it lol.
Sometimes threads take a tangent but everything is a learning experience and I'm glad it went astray!

Understood.

Anyway... for those who have taken that screw out and heard that infamous "clink" as the backside falls down... followed by a swear word or two...
Here's what you are looking for, and you will find it on the bottom of the cavity once you remove the drive (photo borrowed from youtube)