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Mating OMC 5.8 to VP 290 drive

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tf11311

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I have a good 5.8 from a boat that almost sunk due to water filling boat through gap transom and drive from. Have another boat with a good 290 drive. I know anything can be made to work with enough effort but can these be mated with bolt-on parts and what are they? Excluding exhaust for the time being, is there parts and if so what are the part numbers for everything such as the flywheel housing, shaft, transom plate ect?
 
tf11311 said:
I have a good 5.8 from a boat that almost sunk due to water filling boat through gap transom and drive from. Have another boat with a good 290 drive. I know anything can be made to work with enough effort but can these be mated with bolt-on parts and what are they? Excluding exhaust for the time being, is there parts and if so what are the part numbers for everything such as the flywheel housing, shaft, transom plate ect?
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Was this a "stringer drive " engine, i.e. one with "bellows" transom shield...ifso... biggest challenge will be filling the gap with a Volvo 290 transom shield which I believe is smaller...
 
sandkicker said:
Was this a "stringer drive " engine, i.e. one with "bellows" transom shield...ifso... biggest challenge will be filling the gap with a Volvo 290 transom shield which I believe is smaller...
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It wasnt a stringer drive engine. The 5.8 engine was originally mated to 1992 or 1993 OMC king cobra drive and more specifically it was the "daddy king cobra". Not trying to reinvent the wheel just wondering if this can be done with bolt on parts.
 
sandkicker said:
5.8 a Ford ??? i.e. disti @ front of engine?
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Yes unfortunately it is a ford 5.8L 351w from 1992 OMC powered boat. Would rather have a free 5.7 chevy but beggars cant be choosers. Fortunately i just got off phone with a guy that only deals with volvo pentas and he has the bellhousing to connect the ford 5.8 351w from 1992 OMC boat to the 1987 volvo penta single prop 290 drive. This part number is 3851963. The shaft is 26spline. He has the Y pipe also but Im leaning toward thru-hull exhaust.Obviously for the time being the gear ratio will be wrong (since there is currently a 4cylinder volvo b230 or aq131 motor in it) but I will get to changing gear set after I have the motor in place and running.
 
When I reengined my boat ( I went from a 283HP SBC @ 185 HP to a 5.7L SBC @ 260HP) I also went thru transom with mufflers... I ran the boat for about 2 months with exhaust thru the drive ( mechanic who did the swap insisted there wuld be no difference w/thru transom) . When I converted to thru transom w/ shorty fiberglass mufflers the next spring, I got another 450 RPM @ WOT.
A surprise was that while the boat at idle and off a plane was noisier with the thru transom, the noise level at cruise was lower than with thru drive... In the Volvo 200 series, (and especially 280 and later) the exhaust port is above the water when the boat is on a plane... Back then, coversation @ cruise at the helm of my 23ft cuddy cabin was all but impossible... now, feasible. Let me know if you want any more info onhow I did this.
 
Would love to do a captains call set up. I noticed there used to be some made fore the 302 and 351 motors but they seem to be discontinued. Theres certain times I'd like the noise, attention, oh and of course that last bit of performance but others I just wanna be incognito.
 
I went thru-hull with my 5.8 and love it. Great engine too. I put 95db mufflers in and it's perfect. Just sounds like a nice Mustang GT when you are out on the water. Not too loud, but not quiet either. I thought my wife would hate it, but she loves it.

My 95 351w has GT40 heads on it. Ford pulled 300 of those from the marine division to put in the 95 Cobra R, although the cam in it is much closer to the cam that went in the 95 Lightning truck.

https://youtu.be/V1nKHkiUUlU
 
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My wife is delighted with the sound with a pair of "shorty" Centek 3" mufflers... at dockside sounds like a classic inboard idling. On a plane, as you mentioned, definitely a "muscle" V8 sound...

It was a very tight fit... had to relocate the battery box(es) vertically by 6 inches to let the exhaust line (and end of muffler) to clear... What you can't see is the 3" elbow immediately at the end of the muffler to the 3" port(s) with flappers on the transom. This is the STBD muffler.




Port Muffler.jpg
 
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sandkicker said:
My wife is delighted with the sound with a pair of "shorty" Centek 3" mufflers... at dockside sounds like a classic inboard idling. On a plane, as you mentioned, definitely a "muscle" V8 sound...

It was a very tight fit... had to relocate the battery box(es) vertically by 6 inches to let the exhaust line (and end of muffler) to clear... What you can't see is the 3" elbow immediately at the end of the muffler to the 3" port(s) with flappers on the transom. This is the STBD muffler.




View attachment 26183
Click to expand...

Wow. That's a huge muffler. Mine actually went inside of the 4" exhaust hoses.
 
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