29ft, 1976 sportcraft C-Eagle with 351W engine OMC outdrive.

Top O The mornin to yall. New guy here. much obliged for allowing me to join the discussion. Over the years I've really enjoyed buying old boats and bringig them back to life. I do pretty much all my own work whether I know how to or not. I am a world class youtube trained technician at best. That being said I bought this thing with a solid double axel trailer for 900 bucks. The floor was shot so I ripped it off and found rock solid very large stringers INTACT much to my surprise. Someone had replaced the tank and done a poor job puttng a new floor back on. The boat was covered in mold and looked like Davy Jones was surely at the helm. Power washed her and what a difference THAT made. So I replaced the floor with marine grade 5/8ths PW and glassed it in. The 351W had a bad starter but looked like it had maybe 50 hours on her. I replaced the starter , put an edlebrock 4brl 600 on her , replaced some solenoids and resistors opened her up and poured some seafoam on the heads and let her sit for 24hrs. Next day VAVoom she started up and runs like a top, no smoke, timing is perfect, everything works. Now comes the outdrive of which I know nothing. Ive never had a boat with an outdrive. All I know at this point is that it's an OMC and that it's hard to find parts- unless you look for parts. Can anyone tell me what the setup with this ford engine was? What am I looking at here? I know it has an electric clutch but thats about it.

 

Awesome

 

Might be a bargain if the drive is serviceable !

 

omc stringer. yuck. Not highly regarded over here. That pin drive setup is a weak point. Good luck with it. Post a report on how you get on with it. That huge rubber seal they use has to be inspected too, they can sink boat when they get old and perished.

 

That's an old thing to still have the original drive. What does that tell you, maybe not used that often.

 

Have a look at the pic of those pin drive cogs which had to take the power of a v8. Horrible things. If I was the op I would use it till it craps itself if it works now. Then fill the hole and fit a volvo 270 or 280 leg.

 

Ok so it IS a stringer you say? I've been warned about the boot, however it looks new to me, no dry rot cracks, etc. Still, it's not the sturdiest looking thing Ive ever seen by design. The boat itself is in great shape, very solid. The pilot house looks new and I don't believe she's ever seen salt water however we all know what sitting out in the rain uncovered does to wood. So outside some glass and trim work I'm satisfied that she's got good bones enough to sink a little cash into her since I paid almost nothing for her. Like I said I have no experience with outdrives at all. When you say "fill the hole and add a 270 or 280 leg" could you help me out with a little more detail. Sounds so easy..lol. When you say "leg" is that part of the outdrive? Does that get rid of that boot? What's involved? What can a handy guy expect to spend on a conversion like that? I'll be taking her back and forth across the Oregon Inlet Bar so I'm all ears. Thanks for your insights!

 

I have heard of OMC Stinger, not Stringer !

 

It is a stringer not stinger

 

Its not a straight forward conversion but not hard if you can find a used volvo sterndrive with a ford or multi pattern flywheel housing. A complete volvo or mercruiser setup.would be easier. As I said earlier I would use what you have if it is in working condition. Until it breaks. You might be lucky and get years out of it.

 

Ok so I may as well make this into a useful thread for others since thats what it's all about right? I've been poking around and there ARE available parts including new boots that are apparently pretty rugged according to guys that rebuild these things. Also I've read that most of the damage that is done is because there is a relatively archaic procedure for use that if not followed can cause catastrophic damage. In other words it's not idiot proof and not particularly well designed. I'll post some of the videos and information I've run across thus far.

 

OMC Stringer boot replacement at DuckDuckGo https://duckduckgo.com/?q=OMC+Stringer+boot+replacement&iax=videos&ia=videos&iai=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Dc0xO06a9KpI