Re: Gill/ OB transom brackets... Yes or No?
Haha... I like the Frankenstein comment! You are probably right that it not a great idea, but I just want to make sure, because if I am going to do it, I would rather do it before the rest of the body work.
Its set up as an outboard right now, with a 1997 100HP oil injected Mercury. I'm not thinking that I would save a whole lot of money long term in gas but it only has a 40 gallon tank and I want to be able to take it on some pretty long trips so it might give me a little extra range with the current tank. In terms of materials, I can pick up most of what I need from the company that I work for and it will cost me next to nothing if I work with scrap.
One of the real bonuses would be that I could get rid of my splash well altogether and have a nice "hole free" transom. The way the back of the boat is set up now, water will get into the splash well and slosh around which in turn keeps the deck wet and makes a mess. If that were full height I could put in a nice access hatch for the build and some more built in storage... Also, I have heard that moving the motor back into that smoother water will improve handling? Here's an early sketch that I did of a possible conversion:
http://i741.photobucket.com/albums/xx59/Radnar3/mockup1.jpg
Thanks for the advice guys, - Tom