I need to replace my old 9.9 two stroke Johnson with a new four stroke.
I'm concerned that the current support between the bracket and the transom (I think it's called a wedge) will not support the new engine with it's increased torque. It looks like "wedge" is bolted thru from the outside and access from the inside appears to be very difficut if not impossible. I will also need a new bracket in which case I doubt I can match the existing bolt holes.
Will the cowl on a new 9.9 be so large that I cannot tilt the motor without hitting the transom?
I would be more concerned with the transom itself and whether it is thick and strong enough to take the weight and torque of the four stroke engine. The reason that I mention this is because one of the guys on this forum who owned an O'Day 25 had a thread going with pictures of his transom stove in by a small four stroke engine stove on the transom of his boat. He had his family on board and one of his members over accelerated the outboard in gear when it happened. The large hole was above the waterline thank the good Lord for small favors, and he was able to get the boat to safety.
Get this. The engine that he had on a cheap bracket was smaller than a 9.9 HP and the bracket sustained no damage whatsoever. Go figure! The bracket that was on his boat was similar to my Pantha engine bracket which is similar to the regular el cheapo Fulton two stroke brackets that they installed on these boats.
This brings me to question about whether you should go out and spend big bucks for a heavy duty four stroke bracket for a four stroke outboard. I say no. Of course this is just my own opinion but it is the same opinion of some of the marine mechanics that I've talked to about this.
I believe that you can get away with using a heavy duty two stroke bracket that will support the weight of your engine and I'm not talking about an el cheapo bracket similar to the one I have on my boat for my Johnson 8 hp two stroke long shaft outboard.
We've all seen these brackets. They are heavy duty and look like a four stroke bracket. The only difference is the writing on the tag that reads, not rated for a four stroke outboard.
Rudy Nickerson has these brackets at D&R Marine and he sells them to guys who have O'Day 25s with four stroke engines larger than 9.9 HP, only his bracket is a heck of a lot cheaper than a Gorelik four stroke bracket.
My friend Wayne has a heavy duty Gorelik two stroke bracket on his Seaward 22 for his new Tohatsu 9.9 four stroke outboard. It's rated for the weight of the engine but he had more concerns for the thickness of the transom on this boat which is something like 1/4''. I couldn't believe it when I saw the knock out circle that he cut from it.
He beefed up his transom before he mounted his engine and he's been good to go.
If your transom has no rotted core and you feel that it's thick enough, then I would go ahead and bolt a 1/2" plywood backup plate inside the transom for extra strength and mount the hardware.
As far as the foot print of the block is concerned; You can always bolt a wider stainless steel plate to the face of the block and just bolt the bracket to that. If the bolt spacing is wider than the block you can always construct a new wider block like my friend Ray did on his O'Day 26. It works like a champ.
Think it through and I'm sure you can come up with a plan.
Good luck!
Joe
