jstema

I am looking at a 2/3 owner '88 Stinger 312 with twin king cobra 460's(original) with omc outdrives (original) with about 550 hours and a triaxle trailer. Current owners are a middle age couple who have owned the boat ten years and have used a marina mechanic for maintenance. It's an almost all white model that looks pretty modern and seems to be in great shape. Any thoughts on the Fords or the OMCs? After my shipping costs I'm looking to spend about $12,000 total.

Cruising and top end expected speeds? (Unknown prop. pitches)?

Ryan8886

Those older Cobra drives did have some issues at some point. Something to do with coming in and out of gear incorrectly. Can't remember what years were the problems. There was a subsequent service bulliten at one point I think for a fix. Search around a little but I'm sure the big brains on here will dip in soon!

PS- gotta love those old Stingers! Classic lines!

Airpacker

88 KC drives suck. Dog clutch shiftable lowers like an outboard. I blew up 13 in 129 hrs on a light boat.

Chris Sunkin

The OMC drives are not only the Achille's heel, they dramatically impact the value of the boat. OMC is gone- bankrupt. Bombardier bought the assets but I don't believe they support the drives in any way- the worst of which is parts. There's a smattering of this stuff on the used market but that will inevitably dry up. If you want to do more than tool around and do an occasional blast, you'll spend alot of time looking for parts and paying thru the nose for them. If you plan to run fast and jump the boat out of the water, look elsewhhere. That's a very heavy, very solidly constructed hull and it's full of comfort equipment. All that weight is very tough on drives.

Look at it this way, a Bravo conversion with a nice set of used drives is going to cost you 10 grand plus. About what the boat is worth.

The good news is the 460 is a great motor and responds well to budget mods.

ezstriper

I would stay away from it...it's a odd ball deal that will bite you...85% out there would just not buy the boat period..me included...so parts, power(the ford is not going to run like the chevy's $ for $) and resale...

Young Performance

I have worked on quite a few over the years and the biggest problem beside the drive breaking, is electronics. They use an ignition interrupter to get the drive out of gear. With the drive dogs, you must remove the load for a split second in order to get it out of gear.(Just like an alpha) The electronic interrupter has a tendency to fail and they are almost impossible to find. I have a buddy who is trying to find a drive coupler for one now. He is having some contraption made by a company in Canada because he looked for months and could not find one. Stay away from it. If you buy it, you will regret it.
Eddie.

jstema

Thanks for the advice. I think I will pass on this boat. Too bad it doesn't have Chevys and Bravos.