I have read that, like many manufacturers, Nordic was not real good about glassing in the cutouts in the transom for the drive and exhaust. If you buy this boat, this would be an excellent opportunity to take some time to have these areas full sealed / glassed in. It would alleviate a lot of worry and just might save you from a rotted transom in the future if the transom seal were to spring a leak.

ok, i am assuming it is a used nordic with the power stripped out. if so, it doesn't matter where the replacement power comes from. best bet is to buy a whole boat for all the parts. unless you are talking a whole new set-up. i saw a mid nineties 25 cruiser go on ebay for 600 bucks. stuck motor-454, bravo, transom assy...coulda probably resold the boat for 500 after stripping it...cuz if your budget is 20k for repower, buy a 15k runner, repower yours and resell the hull for 5k. there are a lot of options to repower.