Omc cobra and Volvo penta sx interchangable parts

Hi I live in the UK.
I have a 1998 sx drive that has corrosion damage.
Sx parts in the UK are expensive and hard to come by.
I have found a gimbal housing from an omc cobra in good condition.
It looks the same in the eBay listing or very similar to my sx gimbal housing.
My question will it fit or does the search continue.
Thanks in advance Neil.

The only way is to compare parts numbers...so you would have to look at a Volvo and OMC on line catalogs. Also keep in mind the OMC Cobras for model years 1994-1998 are the same as the SX... just be sure of what you are looking at....

Thought it wouldn't be that easy.
Thanks for the help guys.

.....................

louc said:

The only way is to compare parts numbers...so you would have to look at a Volvo and OMC on line catalogs.
You can certainly do that if you wish!

OMC filed chapter 11.
Volvo Penta purchased the company.
By end of 1993, the dog clutch OMC Cobra and King Cobra, and the cone clutch King Cobra were no longer being manufactured.
By 1994 on, all drives were now Volvo Penta cone clutch drives.... I.E., the SX and the DP-S.

The OMC dog clutch Cobra gear selection occurs in the lower gear unit.
The Volvo Penta cone clutch gear selection occurs in the upper gear unit..... aka transmission!
The gimbal bell is quite different between the two, meaning that a Cobra will not mount to a Volvo Penta gimbal bell, and the Volvo Penta will not mount to an OMC gimbal bell.

The OMC Cobra seawater pump is located in the AFT area of the upper gear unit.
All Volvo Penta drives use an engine mounted seawater pump.... be it belt driven or crankshaft driven.

There is a kit that allows the Volvo Penta SX and/or DP-S to be retro-fit to an OMC Cobra system.
This kit replaces the OMC Cobra gimbal bell in order to mount the SX or DP-S drive.

Also keep in mind the OMC Cobras for model years 1994-1998 are the same as the SX...
While Volvo Penta did maintain the Cobra name (i.e., the Cobra SX), there is no OMC dog clutch Cobra from 1994 and on!

just be sure of what you are looking at....
Yes.... ditto that!

Click to expand...

nthompson said:

Thought it wouldn't be that easy.
Yes, it would be impossible to mix/match components.
Thanks for the help guys.

Click to expand...

Lets not leave out this part:
Yes they did not manufacture the dog clutch units after '93. If you look at both drives and transom mounts what you will easily see is that:
Volvo Penta completely used the OMC Cobra transom mount, with the exception of the pivot housing (a bit longer to accommodate the SX drive) and a few other details. The first few years...the trim rams...were the exact same parts used by OMC on the Cobra...later on they were changed slightly....
This is why, in some years, the parts are identical as are the part numbers. SO....if you had an SX...and needed a part you could not find from Volvo....but had access to a 1994 and later Cobra...if the parts numbers match up...its the same part.


However, I would be surprised that SX parts are hard to find over in Europe....it was made from '94 till '05 or so....when the SX-A came out...there have to be a LOT of them floating round..

Look at the thermostat housing used on nearly all VP engines after 1994...it IS an OMC part, same part number....the exhaust manifolds used on the V6, and V8s and related parts...they were OMC parts....that are still available from Volvo...in fact...I used this information to my advantage when replacing the long NLA OMC one piece V6 manifolds....all I had to do...was source the V/P exhaust hoses and 90* exhaust pipes...used to mate the 4" elbow to the 3.5" OMC Y pipe...it fit perfect and allowed me to use Barr aftermarket exhaust....even though those exhaust pipes...are NLA from OMC....

so what you need to do...is look up the Volvo part # for the part you need.....then start looking at OMC parts diagrams...for the #s...anything that is OMC branded and '93 and earlier...probably is not the same....
on BRP's website they have parts catalogs...as does www.crowleymarine.com

.......................

louc said:

Lets not leave out this part:
Yes they did not manufacture the dog clutch units after '93. If you look at both drives and transom mounts what you will easily see is that:
Volvo Penta completely used the OMC Cobra transom mount, with the exception of the pivot housing (a bit longer to accommodate the SX drive) and a few other details. The first few years...the trim rams...were the exact same parts used by OMC on the Cobra...later on they were changed slightly....
This is why, in some years, the parts are identical as are the part numbers. SO....if you had an SX...and needed a part you could not find from Volvo....but had access to a 1994 and later Cobra...if the parts numbers match up...its the same part.
Louc, anything labeled Cobra SX from 1994 on, IS VOLVO PENTA!
I'm not sure what point you're trying to argue here!

However, I would be surprised that SX parts are hard to find over in Europe....it was made from '94 till '05 or so....when the SX-A came out...there have to be a LOT of them floating round..

Look at the thermostat housing used on nearly all VP engines after 1994...it IS an OMC part, same part number....the exhaust manifolds used on the V6, and V8s and related parts...they were OMC parts....that are still available from Volvo...in fact...I used this information to my advantage when replacing the long NLA OMC one piece V6 manifolds....all I had to do...was source the V/P exhaust hoses and 90* exhaust pipes...used to mate the 4" elbow to the 3.5" OMC Y pipe...it fit perfect and allowed me to use Barr aftermarket exhaust....even though those exhaust pipes...are NLA from OMC....
Yes, I agree...... Volvo Penta used up all of the OMC parts that would work with their new Cone Clutch stern drive....... the T-stat housing is one example.

so what you need to do...is look up the Volvo part # for the part you need.....then start looking at OMC parts diagrams...for the #s...anything that is OMC branded and '93 and earlier...probably is not the same....
Precisely.... and that's what I've been trying to explain.

on BRP's website they have parts catalogs...as does www.crowleymarine.com

Click to expand...