Re: Military motor?
I believe one of the major specs for military outboards is that they can remain submerged for over 30 min in a marine environment, and still be fired right up. As a result, they have lots of extra systems bolted onto them, such as the de-watering system you mentioned. There are probably other specs that contribute to its robustness too. I'm not sure if you could remove all the extra qizmos and turn it back into a regular/civilian motor, but you might be able to get a good deal. The military buys those things like potato chips, use them for a bit, then sell them on.
