Not sure which board to really ask this in, but I've been recently looking for a boat to restore. I have a short list of boats, but a HydroStream Vector 17' outboard is pretty much the top of the list with various other period (70s-80s) hot boats with outboards, v-drive v8 ski boats, and one instance of a jet drive variant of one of the outboards. Loved growing up around this era of boats even in their twilight years and don't mind getting my hands dirty or maintenance woes as a mechanic by trade since they can be bought for pennies.

Was hoping some anons might have some insight into what it takes to actually do this past the mechanical bits. I also have a few outboards picked out if I end up with an outboard versus a marine V8 model, mainly being the Mercury 115 Tower of Power, Mercury Black Max 150, Mercury Black Max 175, and Mercury Racing 2.5 EFI 200.

I really don't know anyone who owns any of these so I feel completely out of my depth.