1976 OMC Stringer Drive

I have completely restored a 1976 Reinell 20' Cuddy, right down to the bare hull. Started from scratch and all is well. I did this about 7 years ago. Don't ask me to do this again though! The boat is powered by a rebuilt 1976 OMC 175HP/Ford 302 fresh water cooled/electric shift. The engine just now has abut 500 hours. Had I known then what I know now I think I would have deep 6'ed the I/O and gone for an Armstrong O/B bracket and a 175HP o/b engine...or maybe not. I have been viewing several threads here about these brackets and the performance loss and gains that some users have reported. As some of you know, the early OMC outdrives with electric shift notoriously leak at the seals on the intermediate drive. I've had this drive resealed 3 times now and it still leaks. Drives me nuts! This coupled with the fact that the I/O and motor are very very heavy and take up a huge amount of room in the boat. I keep thinking how nice it would be to have all the room available. I'm just looking for suggestions...Great forum too!