I want to upgrade my oudrive. Boat is a 1975 with a 302 v8. The outdrive now is mc-1. What is best and easiest direct replacement on a budget...
by out drive do you mean just the outdrive or do you want to upgrade the outdrive, gimbal housing and trim system as well?
If just the outdrive the later R/MR/Alpha Gen one will bolt up to your bellhousing and is still very current in terms of spares availability even though the Alpha gen one was last built in 1990.
If you want to go deeper and get everything aft of the engine current I would try to upgrade to an alph gen two as they are 1991 and up. A gen one transom housing etc would work as well but has still been out of production for 30 years.
the issue you will run into is that the flywheel cover that has the rear motor mounts change motor mount spacing i 1981 when merc went from the mc1 => R drive. Not sure if you can use a MC1 transom inner plate on a gen one or two gimbal housing. I dont think the later mount spacing is made with the Ford flywheel cover you need for your 302...
Maybe
@Bondo or
@achris knows if the mc1 inner plate works with the later gimbal housings .
