OMC - Spare parts for OMC sterndrives

The history of the OMC sterndrives starts back in 1907, when Ole Evinrude founded the Outboard Marine Corporation. By the 1960s, following some years of successful outboard boat racing, the first OMC sterndrive was available: the “OMC Stringer”. It was nothing more than a Ford Cortina 1.6L petrol engine, with an electrical shifting system, taken from an outboard application. By the end of the 1970s, the 400 and 800 drives were introduced. The upper unit was more or less the same, while the lower unit was again an adaptation from outboard models. The 400 series was used with 4-cylinder engines, while the 800 series was created for V6 and V8 engines. The “OMC 400” model and the “OMC 800” model were produced until 1985.

In 1986, OMC launched the “OMC Cobra”. Many technical elements were based on MerCruiser drives, yet it was adapted to the OMC line. Later, when the 460 engine was introduced, OMC created the “OMC King Cobra” drive. It was nothing more than an OMC Cobra upper unit and a lower unit from a V8 outboard. Around 1993, the OMC went on a joint venture with Volvo Penta and made a revised and improved version of the initial OMC Cobra, eliminating many structural flaws and creating a more robust outdrive. Therefore, OMC Cobras produced before 1993 are considered early, while the latter are considered late.

In 1998, Volvo Penta purchased the manufacturing facility in Lexington, permanently ceasing the production of OMC sterndrives.

Although many of the parts used on earlier OMC sterndrives become harder to find, Poseidon Marine keeps a decent stock of most of the consumable parts, as well as repair components like:

Recmar® Aluminium anode kit OMC Stringer sterndrive 983494 393023 431708
Recmar® Aluminium anode kit OMC Cobra sterndrive 984513 393023 431708
Recmar® OMC Cobra 4-cyl engine lower unit seal kit 985612 18-2671
Recmar® OMC Cobra 1986-1992 propeller shaft seal kit 439967 18-2672 87656 984458
Recmar® OMC Stringer upper unit seal kit 982949 18-2667
Recmar® Rubber Plate Seal OMC Stringer 1967-1977 313080 with Electric Shift
Recmar® Shift cable OMC Cobra 1986-1993 987661 18-2245-1
Recmar® Shift cable OMC Cobra 1986-1993 987661 18-2245-1
Recmar® Shift cable OMC King Cobra 987678
Recmar® electric shift cable OMC Stringer 379628

Additionally, all anode kits for the OMC Stringer and OMC Cobra sterndrives are kept in stock as aluminium, magnesium, and zinc. Therefore, Poseidon Marine manages to service both freshwater and seawater boats, equipped with OMC sterndrives.

Some of the most popular components for OMC sterndrives, which we always keep in stock, are:

CEF® Bellows kit OMC Cobra 983973 914036 911826 911830 18-2771
Poseidon Marine® Hydraulic Manifold Block for Volvo Penta SX replaces 3852559
Recmar® Exhaust Hose OMC Volvo Penta 3863450 3852741 18-2780-1
Recmar® Circulation water pump Volvo Penta MerCruiser OMC 4-cylinder 3858340 8M0113733
Recmar® Exhaust manifold OMC 2.3 912472 913395 986041
Recmar® Exhaust elbow OMC 2.3 912472 0914766 914766
CEF® Shift cable bellow CEF500506 for OMC Cobra 911826
Recmar® Bearing Housing OMC Cobra 911750
Barr Marine® Exhaust elbow OMC Ford 302 351 980617

Sometimes, the issue of spare parts availability might be the reason to make essential changes to your boat. Although a complete engine-drive swap might be very costly and engineering challenging, a partial conversion of the drive unit might be a viable solution, especially if you manage to locate a second-hand MerCruiser Alpha one unit.

Recmar® Conversion Kit Cobra to MerCruiser Alpha One

Poseidon Marine offers another solution to bypass the problem of the now obsolete one-piece manifolds, used with the 4.3 V6 engines from 1991 and later. These engines were combined with SX/OMC Cobra drives. The following bundle of products is a plug-and-play solution to make the relevant conversion.