Logo

800 stringer uppergear case question

wildturk

New member
I have a busted upper gear case 981112 is the model number on it and was wonder if a model number 982461 upper gear case would fit and turn the right direction. Both are 800 series upper drives. Thanks. Engine is OMC 185 labeled via Valve covers. 78 Galaxie is the boat.
 
those 9XXXXXX numbers aren't referenced outside the OMC factory in any meaningful way.

the trick is to count the gear teeth, or turn input 10 turns and see how many turns the vertical gear turns on each to see if the gear ratio is the same or different. As far as "turning"the right way... all the drives turn the same way as far as power transmission is concerned.
If you mean steering, it takes about 20 minutes to switch the worm gear and segment from RH to LH steer. it's a total 50/50 shot on that. There seems to be little rhyme or reason as to what worm gear OMC put in each drive. I've seen a LH and a RH on the same boat with twin sterndrives--- just one helm drum flipped on the steering cable.
 
Last edited:
Ok yeah that was pertaining to steering when counting the gear teeth am which gears am i counting? Looking at the lower side of the upper unit? The top i assume is the steering gear so that one i would not be counting at all. And also when looking at upper units all i need to pay attention to is the gearing not the model numbers i know that per say a 400 unit will not fit on my 800 very aware of that. But there is a few of these units listed on ebay right now for fairly cheap. Could you give me an idea of what mine might be it's out of the 185 OMC engine so i assume the 185 HP engine? Or even a reference of what i can look at to find out if one of the ones on ebay might fit mine via years and or HP ratings that might be the same ratio as mine.
 
The gears that need to be the same (or very close - within 1 tooth), are the horizontal gear and vertical gear inside the gearbox - the main power transmitting gears.
If you don't want to disassemble the gearbox, you can turn shafts and compare ratios that way as I described above
i know that per say a 400 unit will not fit on my 800
actually, 400 and 800 series uppers are the same -exact same housing, but again it's the gears inside that will make it work properly with your engine's power. 400 series lower units are not compatible with V8 power, but the uppers are.
upper gearing is matched to engine power and torque curve
Or even a reference of what i can look at to find out if one of the ones on ebay might fit mine via years and or HP ratings that might be the same ratio as mine.
the SELOC manual for OMC sterndrives 1964-1985 has a good reference in it with all gear ratios, upper, lower and overall.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top