Guys thanks for the info on sticking with stock ignition.
this isn't my first boat resto and I am capable and going to do all work myself!!! (except interior -great guy here will do the whole interior including carpet for 2K and obviously shipping out machine work on blocks.
As of today the transom is already replaced along with the main engine stringers. I've wet-sanded the hull to restore the color- it looks awesome-will post pics as I go.
One engine is together and running and both drives are ok
I'm only redoing the seals in the drives for prevention sake and I would be foolish not to build both motors at the same time.

One more thing,

the liberator has below waterline side exhaust. I was told I need to stick with a marine cam because of possibly sucking water in the exhaust does anyone know about this???
Obviously a cam is where I could get some juice!!

Thx Jon

oh yea, complete boat, all parts, nice tandem trailer............
$2,500

You probably have Cobras... not kings, they came with the 460. Cobras came with the 350s.

If you really have to do stringers, transom, the interior, and engines...
throw the boat in the trash and sell the trailer for 2700.

Pocket the 200 bucks, take the wife to dinner, and wait until you can spend 15k on a solid boat that doesn't need transom, stringer, interior.

You are gonna put a thousand man hours and more money than the boat is worth... then nobody will buy it because it has OMCs.

Also... if you do get it on the water... if it starts to shift hard or you suspect that the Electronic Shift Assist module is not dropping rpms during shifting as it should, stop using the boat until you can get it diagnosed/replaced.

Don't do a cam. Enough cam to make a difference will require other mods.
You won't see the HP that you dream of because you need to keep those engines stock.
The good news is that you won't blow a Cobra with 270 horsepower.


Just an FYI... I am currently selling a sweet 26 footer with a new interior, looks and runs great. Loaded, with a nice trailer. Ready to go.
Nobody will give me 15 grand for it. It has cobras. I like em fine. The world thinks merc is the only show in town. (They are wrong, but nobody is ever gonna buy your boat.)

You could sell the drives and the blocks for more than 2500.
This is the only way that you will ever make out.

The hull is not worth stringers, transom, interior.

Don't want to pee on your dream... but it needed to be said.

Dam Fund....you didn't pee on his dream, looks like you took a big fat DUMP on it.

BTW: I agree with Fund, I bought a boat in Nov. that was "ready to run" and I still spent the entire winter fixing it like I wanted.
If you truely enjoy these huge projects then good luck and...are you for hire?????

[QUOTE=t500hps]Dam Fund....you didn't pee on his dream, looks like you took a big fat DUMP on it.

QUOTE]

Wow!!!
You guys are so positive and uplifting! Fund I know your and omc guy and when shifting right they are a great drive. Like I said this isn't my first resto project and It probably isn't as bad as I make it sound. I'll have around 15K in the boat when done(since I'm doing it myself) and have a nice roughwater boat that should do around 60-64. could you elaborate on the mods I would have to go with if doing a cam. Are you talking about true thru-hull exhuast?
Thanks.

High& Dry,
Welcome to OSO.. You will get an incredible amount of information here... Though your boat may need allot of work, and what older boat doesn't, I am sure it will be nice when your done. You asked about cams and reversion.. You do need to be mindful of this situation. I cannot recommend a cam selection, since your exhaust is below the water line, you do need to be mindful of reversion. The large body of water that you are boating in is not only water source, for reversion, the exhaust manifold cooling can also contribute. When selecting an alternate cam, you may not realize the benefit without changing the exhaust, ( I am guessing you currently have the stock exhaust ) and carburetor(s). Since your going to tear the engines apart, I know that you may think that this may be the best time to evaluate the upgrades... and it is...
I am sure that someone will respond with good choices...
I would also suggest performing a search... within this forum..
You can find the option at the top of the page in each section you enter... Hope it all works out for you...
Quikdecison

Finally another four winns owner, I have a '96 U-19. Sounds like you've got a great deal of work to do. If you're a fiberglass guy then most of it should go relatively easily and inexpensively. With regard to the motors, I just built up a new 5.8 for myself so I went through the whole power vs reliability issue.
Quikdecision is completely right, even if you went with a through hull exhaust you still have to worry about the water cooling the exhaust manifolds being pulled back into the cylinder. I know this isnt what you want to hear and its not what I wanted to hear either but you really should keep the motors close to stock & low compression. I had detonation due to water in one of my cylinders on my original volvo penta 5.0 and ended up with a hole in my piston the diameter of a golf ball. It wasnt pretty. There's a guy at four winns who knows this stuff like the back of his hand, he matches all the boats there with motors and also builds custom setups for superboats. I can't remember his name but I'll look into and let you know. Maybe he can offer some advice.

Good luck with the project in the meantime.

Just to clarify, I had an 89 201 Liberator with the 350 King Cobra engine/drive package.