indy with 460 king cobra :(
 

Hi guys, if i knew the existance of this forum i wouldn't be scratching my head right now wondering what i should do. here's the thing. i bought a peterborough indy 1988 with a 460 ford in it a couple months ago. first day i tried it, bunch of things happened. first after only 1hour on the water both came apart. bring it back to the dock and try to fix it the best i could. an hour after, i couldn't hit the max top speed and smoke was cominf off the engine :( a couple days after, i found out that the cam pin broke, all the lifters were jacked and a melted piston on cylinder 2. now i got all the engine rebuilt from the crank to the heads. seller paid half with me.
i also got a brand new feet on it.
what would you guys do? keep it or sell it? i dont really now anything about those engine, but from what i've been reading from the past few weeks tells me that i should get rid of it!
let me know your suggestion!
thank you

Ford and OMC can be a tough mix glad mine is gone. Hard to find any Ford parts and omc marine

Turn it if you can.
Spent the better part of 20 years working on my parents OMC cobra/Chevy 350. All kinds of shifting and rigging issues, I still have nightmares.

+2 Brother and sister-in -law have one and so did i and it was one thing after another . Spent all last week end working on in laws . I think i'll get my scuba tank jammed so i can ride it to the bottom . :angry-smiley-038:

+1 Get out while You can.

Hopefully ill be able to find an omc lover.
yes.. Shifting problem , i also noticed that. Its hard to put it in reverse sometimes. That makes me look pretty stupid in a marina trying to dock it hehe
But thanks a lot guys for your replies! :)

Welcome to OSO. An Boating. Artie

In all honesty , from what i have seen , the 460 KING Cobra was a good package . I have never heard of a KING Cobra failing . A good friend had this package in a Chriscraft and ran it for years with no problems . I had the plain Cobra drive problem child . I cured it by installing a KING Cobra lower with a nosecone .

That 460 ford's a bada$$ motor. Had a jet boat with it. But if You blow a drive. Hard to find parts. An if You spend time an money on props. Well just saying. Artie

Hi,
I have a 88 Indy with a 460 king cobra for some years. I never had a problem with the engine. What propeller are you using?, what pitch? What is your rpm to full throttle?

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?