On Tuesday, November 4, 2014 2:35:36 PM UTC-8, James wrote:
Hi Group, I'm presently looking at a 1977 28' Bayliner with a 350 Chevy
OMC engine and Volvo 270 drive. The owner says he has the same engine
in his tournament ski boat which is a Mercruiser engine. I don't know
if he's referring to the fact that they're both 350 Chevy's or Mercury
built the OMC also. I haven't gone to see the boat yet. The picture of
the engine shows that it's definitly a Chevy and OMC. Jim

Mercury and OMC ar3e two diffreent inteties. The engine is a GM v-8 in both applications, and should serve you well. There were minor differences in the applications that really didn't have to do with the engine[s]. Like water manifolds, altrnator, etc. but the engines are about the same. I believe OMC did use the volvo outdrives for a while which is also a good lower unit.. . This is a far better choice than the old OMC stringer drives by far. In fact the Volvo outdrive is probably better built than the merceuisers. Parts availability is much easier for the Volvo than OMC, but they are pricey if parts are needed.

Understand that you're looking at at cose to a 40 year old boat, that though it may have been maintained well, it could still have some hull/structure issues in which repair issues may be way more than the boat is worth.

Not to be insulting, but just saying you need to be very cautious about it. If I was going to buy something like that, it's have to be just about scrap price and I'd have a very experienced boat mechanic look it over. It may cost you a couple hundred, but the mechanic can address some issues that you might not be aware of.

Good luck!