King Cobras are tough as nails certainly stronger than most Bravo's, my buddies 33 Donzi had them and they were awesomely reliable over many years. Regular cobras I cant speak about but have heard plenty of complaints

I've got a regular cobra drive I'd sell reasonable if anyone needs one.

You need two of those bro , one to bury and one to cover it up with . :lolhit: My old stroker made short work of a couple of em' .
A regular Cobra works fine with a stock engine .

The shifting issue is, most likely an adjustment issue with the shifter cable. A buddy had the same issue on his Liberator with twin 460 cobras. Take it to a mechanic and have him adjust that. That will help in your quest to sell. Not many people are going to want to buy a boat that won't shift. Please don't take this the wrong way... The buyer for your boat is going to be one with very limited knowlege of boats. Probably a beginner. Therefore, that same person will be scared off if it is difficult to shift. The other buyer will be someone who knows exactly what you have on your hands and will do everything to lowball you, using OMC and the shifting issue to his advantage.

When the shift cable gets worn and sticky inside the housing it drags and takes too much force to overcome.
There is a micro switch that operates the shift interrupter mechanism on the ignition system.
It causes the timing to retard and pulls away spark from the engine to slow it down while the outdrive engages into gear.
Replace and adjust the shift cable to get a smooth shift again.

Aren't King Cobra parts unobtanium?