hey guys just wondering, i came up on a good deal for a complete trs drive. the only thing that confused me is that the one i found has a female output shaft. the ones on my boat have a male output shaft! whats the difference?

It's actually the input shaft your talking about. The ones with the male splines are for use with a Borg-Warner transmission and the ones with the female splines are for use with a Merc Trans ll. You can swap that section at the u-joint if need be. You must be running the Borg-Warners.

thanks for the info! whats better bw or merc or are they the same, i kinda new to this.

I was told the BW were better especially if you have the 72c with the green labels. I guess these have some upgraded components in them, I am glad I have green labels!

B-W by far. The Merc Trans ll was only used a short period back in the 70's and about the only parts you can get for them are used. B-W parts are readily available and and have been around a long time. B-W will hold up to a lot more HP too.

The actual outdrives are the same. Just need to change the input shaft. The trannies were different

well thats some good news, i do have the green labels and i will be picking up that outdrive tomorow! thanks for all the input!

one other question? are both drives the same gear rotation or does the transmision change?

No,rotation is determined in the drive. There are left hand and right hand drives. On a left hand drive if you turn the input shaft the propeller shaft will turn in the same direction.On a right hand drive if you turn the input shaft the propeller shaft will turn the opposite direction.SOMETIMES on the very end of the prop shaft where the prop nut goes on it will be stamped L or R.