Jim Rojas wrote:
Mercruiser engine would cost ($6K+), he
decided to buy a rebuilt chevy car engine from Autozone.

At one time here, the auto parts stores were selling as many short
blocks to power sterndrives as they were to power cars. I replaced one
in about 1976, the store replaced the freeze plugs, no charge, and the
last time I saw the boat (maybe 8-10 years ago) that replacement block
was still going strong. All I did was unbolt everything from the
original (cracked) block, bolted it onto the rebuilt short block, and
I was good to go. I don't remember what the short block cost but it
wasn't much,

Rick