I've been following this thread from the start but, even though I've
owned several sterndrives over the years, I'm a bit lost with the
mounting probs and brackets etc. The engines in mine were just
converted auto engines with a belt driven water pump already bolted
onto the front of the block as per usual.

On Tue, 22 Apr 08, "jamesgangnc" wrote:
the original merc
outdrive really is the bottom half of an outboard and that's where they all
are on outboards.

But also keep in mind that the upper half is the bit that needs the
cooling and it's an "Inboard". None of which (straight inboards) need
an outboard type impeller. I've always wondered why the designers
didn't just get the cooling water through the bottom of the boat like
any normal straight inboard setup. One of the reasons I don't care for
sterndrives is it seems like they all have so many unnecessary
complexities designed into them. And cooling water intake is just one
of them. Maybe I'm missing something but what's the point in sucking
up water with the outdrive with all its additional parts and probs
when sucking it through a thru hull (like a zillion straight inboards)
would be so simple?

Rick