i jus bought a lower one off craigslist and thought I was getting a good deal...now I know im not and I need to figure out if there is any way to save this...I hope there is it has a small pinhole about the size of a pencil tip right in the front like it was hit...when I purchased it I didn't spot it...I should have filled it with oil...shame on me...any got ideas?

I just put a nosecone on mine. I think they did some welding and used some kind of filler I'm sure you can weld it or use the filler without the nosecone

Metal filler. Die grind the area and fill also you could use it to sharpen up those leading edges that thing is a little rough.

grind, drill, tap, setscrew, grind, epoxy

A good prop. repair shop should be able to weld it without taking it a apart. I see you are in NY the shop in Newburgh does them all the time for us, Check around they my pick up once a week from a marina near you

Are you sure that isn't the speedometer pitot hole? It's in the right approximate location to be the pitot hole.
Granted, it should not drool lube from it, but if somebody decided to drill it out to get the speedo working, they could have penetrated into the gearcase, thus creating the leak. If that's what it is, it will be more difficult to stop it up because your actual leak will be about 3/4" deep into the hole, and the pitot passage will then be where the lube leaks out. You could, however, weld up the pitot hole, AND weld up the top of the pitot hole or put a pipe plug in it (I believe most of them are tapped up top for a 1/8 pipe plug.

You also need a new skeg welded on. They are pretty cheap ($60 or so).

MC