Repower 1986 24' Offshore - any tips suggestions

[Picksix]

Hello Grady owners, my name is Mark. The name of my boat is Picksix. Paid for with winnings from the DE lottery, hence the name.

The boat is currently powered by an OMC 5.0 with a Cobra outdrive. The motor runs great but outdrive went bad. I purchased a new after market drive from a company called GLM. What a mistake, the first drive lasted 15 hours. The second drive all of 9 hours. They blamed it on getting the wrong shimming specs from OMC. It was a 7 month ordeal, they were slow responding and indifferent. I recommend steering clear.

I understand that new OMC parts are getting harder to find so I am considering a repower. I recently priced a Merc 350 Mag with a BravoIII drive installed @over 22k, ouch!! I think I may doit myself. Any experience with repower tips etc.. Thanks Mark

 

[Grog]

You can try the used market and see what pops up.

 

[JeffN]

I sure would not throw any more money at the Cobra. When the cobras were new I was boat shopping and asked an OMC salesman about the Cobras he replied that OMC had a long time to copy the Mercruiser and had not done a very good job of it, but I have no personal experience with them myself. If you are handy I think that it is certainly a DIY project. Be sure and check the integrity of your transom, that may need some repair. The new motors + I/Os are awesome, I just put a 496 in my Kingfish and can't wait for summer.

 

[gradyfish22]

Not sure if you can trailer or would be willing to trailer the boat, but my friend had his I/O Grady repowered by sutphen Performence in Andover, NJ. (973) 770-8400. I've been on the boat and it runs great since the repower and my friend Doug was very happy with the work. Might be a bit far for you, but it may be worth calling to have another quote to compare. This yard does some high powered boat repowers, he is known for high speed power boats. He also had his transom recored, not sure fo the shape of your transom, but if you plan to repower I would strongly suggest having it checked. The only time an I/O can have a transom recored is with the engine out so if you plan to keep the boat, this might be worth doing as well. I know to save on cost, he had Sutphen recore the transom, and line up the engine and outdrive. He did his wiring himself to save a few bucks, not sure of your mechanical level, but having the engine dropped in and lined up might be worth it, and then doing the rest yourself.