Swapping outboards?

[maverick974]

I was looking into buying a 1996 Crestliner Pro Am 1850 that weigh in at 1490 lbs dry.
I've always wanted a boat like this but could never afford one. Still can't actually but this guy has it cheap because it only has a 70 hp on the back. The guy I'm buying it from was going to put a 150 Johnson on the back but that didn't work out so I'm thinking of taking it with just the 70 hp anyway. I have a couple of engines available to me. A 150 Johnson and a 175 Merc.
The 70 will get the boat on plane and get to about 25 mph. Not much but that's good enough for fishing the lakes around here, at least for now until I repower.
My question is this. How hard is it to change out a motor? What kind of problems could I expect? The 175 I have also has a manual jackplate? Does a jackplate make that much difference speed or ride? I'm not a speed demon by any stretch of the imagination so if it only adds a couple miles per hour, I wouldn't care much about that little difference in speed. Also, all the boats are 18 footers but the Crestliner is 15 to 18 inches wider so would all the wires and things just transfer over to the Crestliner or do I need some additional hardware?
I appreciate any help you can offer.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Swapping outboards?

Do a through transom inspection........

Make sure your steering cable will reach with the jack plate........

Hard to tell if the jack plate will match your old holes and you might have to epoxy the old ones shut...

Have a good hoist.....

Seal ALL the bolts up with 3m 4000 or 5200 to prevent leaks..........

Take a few aspirin since your fuel consumption will more than double.......

 

[maverick974]

Re: Swapping outboards?

Do a through transom inspection........

Already have. The transom is solid. The entire hull is solid as is the trailer.

Make sure your steering cable will reach with the jack plate........

That could be interesting. I don't need a jackplate.

Hard to tell if the jack plate will match your old holes and you might have to epoxy the old ones shut...

With the proper engine, if I could get close to 40 mph our of it, I'd be very happy.

Have a good hoist.....

Already thought of that. I will.

Seal ALL the bolts up with 3m 4000 or 5200 to prevent leaks..........

That's a given.

Take a few aspirin since your fuel consumption will more than double.......

Yeah, I know. That part kind of sucks but I'm a bass fisherman so most of the time I'm on the trolling motor.

Any other advice???