TOPIC: Modernizing a Stern Drive?

I am in the owner of a 1964 OMC Johnson Deluxe with Buick V-6 inboard and original OMC sterndrive. I would like to know if anyone has tried or has any suggestions as to updating the original drive with sometihing newer? I am new to I/O drive trains and would like to update the stern drive to make it easier to work on-as in getting parts- and a bit morre reliable. I have posted to the OMC Boats forum-just looking for more input. Thanks

check with these people, i think they make a convertion kit...

www.sterndrive.cc/about.htm

woosterken

There are no good options except finding a good original. Even adapting a modern stern drive to your motor will be tough as Buick?olds / Pontiac shared bell housing patterns but all modern outdrives interface with Chevy or Ford. So unless you keep what you have alive, the whole power package needs to be swapped. I have seen good electric shifts available on ebay. The ball drive is another area of concern these wear and need to be repalces every so often. They are more redily available.
Randy

The thing that most people new to the old style OMC ball drive don't know is, you DO NOT touch the starter switch until the out drive is in the FULL DOWN POSITION. There is NO TRIM between the engine and the out drive. The two halves of the ball drive must be in perefect alignment, if not, they start scraping and wear out.
Some OMC's had trim set ups on the engine mounts. Some were an electric screw type and I think some were hydo-electric. You can tell if you have it by looking at the engine mounts.
I had an old style OMC for over 10 years, with out trim, and never had to change the ball drive.
Two other things about the tilt drive:
1. Make sure the seals are good on the tilt sprocket. The housing is supposed to have oil, not grease, in it. If water gets in the housing it forces the oil up into the drive motor and shorts it out.
2. When lowering the drive don't let it "free fall" down. When it gets close to the bottom, tap the switch on and off, until it is down tight. If you let it "free fall", it WILL snap the small drive shaft between the motor and the worm grear.
Not being able to trim the out drive up with the engine running has it's disadvantages, but how big $$$ of a revamp do you want to do.
old darb

The other thing that happens if you let the drive bottom hard is the worm gear keeps going and blows out the plug and internal c clip holding the cap on, usually the worm gear drops off and is lost too. OMC made a kit to retain the cap, it was a small bracket that bolted on to the drive and had a finger that reached around and pushed against the cap to hold it in. Another frequent failure is one of the ears with the bolt holes holding the tilt sector gear onto the drive cracks. External steering cable needs to be stainless because of submersion and are nearly impossible to find now.
Mechanically this drive is a Rube Goldberg, overly complicated. That said they are very quiet, they shift smooth and being able to turn it almost 90 degrees each direction is handy around the dock. The odd fire 225 V-6 Buick delivers great fuel economy.
Ball drive will last in proportion to use. There are high contact forces and no way to have high pressure lube, because of direct contact over time these surfaces fret.
It now occurs to me that the drive bolt pattern where it mates to the bellhouisng may be common to todays drives, if this is the case then you could retain the motor and swap the drive. You can find complete drive set-ups used as there are a lot of poorly constructed cheap I/O's out there where the boat is junk but the drive is good. You can usuall pick these up CHEAP take what you need and throw the rest of the boat away. I'd look for a 4 cyl Merc with an Alpha 1 I/O if you go that route.

Don't forget that big hole in the transom.

I hope everyone on this site is handy with glass work