A great forum about boats and stuff

I found this great boats forum that gives great advice on boat issues and problems.    They talk about stuff like rebuilt Sterndrives and marine parts. Which is a professional re-manufactured out drive from the case up with OEM Merc parts or equivalent where required.

The drive unit (outdrive) carries power from the inboard engine, typically mounted above the waterline, outboard through the transom and downward to the propeller below the waterline.

The outdrive resembles the bottom half of an outboard motor and is composed of two sub-units: an upper containing a driveshaft connected through the transom to an engine which transmits power to a 90-degree-angle gearbox; and the lower containing a vertical driveshaft receiving power from the upper unit gearbox, transmitted through another 90-degree-angle gearbox to the propeller shaft.

The boat is steered by pivoting the outdrive, as on an outboard motor; no rudder is needed. The outdrive is pivoted up for trailer travel and between uses to avoid fouling.

The outdrive can be matched with a variety of engines in the appropriate power range; upper and lower units can often be purchased separately to customize gear ratios and propeller RPM, and lower units are also available with counter-rotating gearing to provide balanced torque in dual-drive installations.

Sterndrive engines are similar to those used in true inboard systems. Historically the most popular in North America were "marinised" versions of Chevrolet and Ford V-8 automotive engines. In Europe diesel engines are more popular, ranging up to 400 hp in models such as the Volvo PentaD6A-400.

Other brands of sterndrive include MerCruiser