OMC Stearn Drives

[Mark Sr]

For the guys that restore A.S. with a stearn drive,do you keep the OMC or do you swap them out for a Mercruiser or Outboards? The outdrive I have in question is the stringer with the electric shift. What are your Pro's & Con's? Do you like them etc? I know that they are very costly to repair. If you switch to a outboard does it upset the balance with all the weight from an inboard.

Thanks in advance
Mark Sr

[Hardwater]

Hi Mark,

Here's a link to a discussion about older OMC stern drives pros/cons.  It starts out as a topic related to Evinrude boats, but about half way through it gets into fairly detailed information on stringer mount OMC stern drives in general...and their application on wood stringers in the Evinrude hulls specifically.  Not familiar with the application of these outdrives on AS hulls, but there may be some general info that's useful - others here may have even more information.

http://continuouswave.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/013661.html

[LilRichard]

I know a bunch of folks who have gone from I/O to outboard with no problems (albeit not your model).  Depending on your motor, an outboard should be less weight - which helps to offset the placement.

[Mark Sr]

Do the guys that have the electric shift still use them. That would be the stringer outdrive not the cobra. Do you like to keep the boat as original as possible? What's the difference between the OMC 400 or 800 electric shift stearndrives.

[bdtsr]

Parts for most OMC drives are getting scarce. If you keep it, be carefull of the rubber boot. Between rotting and animals that love to chew on them, your boat could become more of a project then you want. The wires tend to go badin the control box and at the transom. Changing to another drive is not easy as the stringer drive cutout is much larger the any other brand drive. Going to an outboard would be a good thing. Even a newer 4 stroke on a bracket would be lighter than a V8 I/O.