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Swapping stern drives

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mnrparsons

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"I am having problems with my

"I am having problems with my 83 seaswirl. I have the 800 series stringer sterndrive taken out and my shift cable is shot. I have found someone who will sell me a 400 series setup with everything I need for $500.00, and my 800 series parts. I am wondering if it would be worth swapping out the 800 for the 400 or would I be better off trying to fix the 800. Any help would be appreciated."
 
"The 800 was used mostly V8 En

"The 800 was used mostly V8 Engines. 400 for 4 Cylinder Engines. If the swap was used you would have to AT LEAST CHANGE OUT the Top End Gears. Others will chime in here, but it will probably be a bad idea to do it."
 
"If Your boat on the pick, I w

"If Your boat on the pick, I would say no.
Had it been a small 17ft run-about, perhaps.
Remember by going to the 400 You have to reduce prop dia and loose area."
 
My boat is an 18 foot open bow

My boat is an 18 foot open bow seaswirl. I have talked to one person and he said that the inline 6 has more torque than my V6 so the sterndrive off of the inline should work just fine with my 3.8 V6. I just need to change the intermediate housing and install an electric shift instead of my cable shift. I am going to get all this from the guy selling me the sterndrive.
 
400 is NOT electrical shift.

400 is NOT electrical shift.
What exact are You intending to buy?
Old stringer electric shift?
400 drive ? (mechanical)
 
The 400 is on a 1975 rienell.

The 400 is on a 1975 rienell. The throttle control has doesn't have a cable coming off of it. It has 2 wires so thats why I assumed it was electric shift. Was I wrong? On the back of the unit it says 165hp.
 
"Got me wondering now. 400/800

"Got me wondering now. 400/800 series did not show up for another couple of years, I think 1978. I do not suppose you have a picture?"
 
No I don't have a picture

No I don't have a picture of the 400. I don't even know if it is the original unit that came with the boat. It looks like someone painted it at one time so I am thinking that maybe someone replaced the 400 once before. The date stamp on the back of the boat was 1975.
 
"Attached are some photos of t

"Attached are some photos of the type of outdrive that was typically used on a boat that age. This is a high profile drive used with the V8's. The number if screws holding on the transom shield changes when the 400/800 series showed up. The Number of screws used for this 16. I believe the number of screws for the 400/800 shield was more.

http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r282/Lyndy_photo/1974%20SkipJack/MDR_9.jpg"

http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r282/Lyndy_photo/1974%20SkipJack/SternDrive-I D.jpg""
 
"Some quick facts:
1. There

"Some quick facts:
1. There never was an electric shift 400. EVER.
1a. There never was an electric shift 800 either.
2. The 400 and 800 were introduced in 1978 as hydromechanical shift drives for 4 cylinder and V engine applications respectively.
3. Every 1964-1977 OMC drive was electric shift and was simply called the OMC sterndrive and had no numeric names except for the 6 digit model number starting with a "9"


All that said, if this electric shift worked behind a 165, it should work behind a 3.8 but ONLY if it's a low profile drive (low profile electric shift drives have the same basic prop to ball gear distance as the 800 unit currently behind your V6). If the electric shift is high profile, the prop will be 4" lower in the water and will make the boat impossible to drive. So if that is the case, bail on the idea now.
If the unit is low profile, don't change intermediates- the 165 intermediate has only 1 exhaust flapper and your V6 needs both flappers. The electric shift drive will hang just fine on your V6 intermediate and the ball gears will mesh properly. You may have to fill around the wires in the shift cable hole with 3M 5200 or similar.

Putting an electric shift drive behind your 3.8 is kind of like putting a 58 Edsel transmission in an 85 Malibu, but it might get you on the water for a while."
 
"1983 3.8 Litre 170 hp
21 / 2

"1983 3.8 Litre 170 hp
21 / 20 Upper gear set
15 / 23 Lower gear set
total gear 1.7

1973-1977 Electric shift 165 hp
21 / 19 Upper gear set
15 / 23 lower gear set
total gear 1.76

1982 3.8 Litre 170 hp
21 / 20 Upper
14 / 26 Lower
total 1.59

I got this from a chart at
http://www.sterndrive.info/electric_shift.html
and
http://www.sterndrive.info/1982_gear_ratio.html

Findings are a bit odd since I have a 1983 3.8 with a OMC sticker that says 1.77 ratio on it and by the chart the electric shift 1.65 drive I have in the garage is actually 1.77.
Anyway............... dang close all and all.

Things is I am not sure why you want to do this ???????
Because your shift cable is shot??????
If so get a cable, not cheap but you can find them and it would be a better solution than what you are getting with the electric shift etc......


Here is one for sale private
http://classifieds.sterndrive.com/c...isplay_db_button=on&db_id=499&query=retrieval

panthermarine on ebay has them listed all of the time.
"
 
"The reason I am looking at ge

"The reason I am looking at getting the new unit is because I am getting a clunk from the stern drive. Everything else looks good but I am thinking that the dog gears are getting worn out. When I pulled the oil plug the other day, there was a lot of metal shavings on the magnet. I just figured that it would be cheaper in the long run to replace the whole unit."
 
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