I own an '88 liberator 261 with twin 350, 270HP's with king cobra outdrives. These drives are very well built and I have had no problems with them. Banged an object one year on the river and cracked the lower unit. I bought an entire lower unit from Doug Russel marine, brand new in the crate, shipped to the house in one week. Parts are not that hard to find. These units are a lot beefier than merc alphas which are usually found with the small blocks. I am selling mine this year due to the growing family. 3 kids under 5 years old are better off in a 5th wheel that this boat. I have lots of pics if you are interested in looking at. I love the boat and would keep it if I actually used it so it needs a new home for someone who will use it. The boat is built extremely well and cuts waves like a knife. Email or PM me if you would like.

90 and later king's had no shifting issues,they had a cone clutch and are pretty much bullet proof..89 and older they had shifting issues,was just hard to pull out of gear whyle docking..if you have the rite tech adjust the shift cables the proper way with the proper tools or do the update you will have no problems..

My '90 King has a shifting issue...it won't go into gear at all