My first reaction on seeing this photo was being sick to my stomach. What a sad sad state of affairs for a really good boat.

While I've only done one full and one partial restoration of quality boats ( the partial was a Bert 25 that was the victum of a divorce).... I will say that they are a "labor of love" for sure. Waaaay more time and waaaaay waaay more money that you would think up front. You better have deep pockets or a good skill set, a meticulous work ethic, and a willingness to learn if you want to do it yourself.... and you better REALLY like the boat, you'll have it a long time (barring family court judges with grudges against men) and never get your money out of it.

Personally I'm not a fan of the "put a bracket on and mount...." fix to any I/O powered boat.

Re: Jawz initial quote "spent in excess of $100,000 rehabbing this..". Given what you would have in your slip when this is all said and done and the price and quality of new boats, if this boat was structurally sound its a good deal. To do it on "the cheap", I'd put a pair of FWC SBC Crusaders in it and look for a pair of 280/290 SP Volvo drives and cut the transom hole larger for the Volvos... 280/290 series Volvos , if well maintained and not damaged are very reliable.