We appreciate the respect, however Mercury put a lot of $ and time into building this. I'm not saying it's the greatest thing in the world, and never breaks, or never fails... but statistically, it works...

If you insist on making a new hole, I'm sure you can, but I'm telling you from (my personal) experience... sometimes modifying stuff like this... the juice ain't worth the squeeze man... I've been there. done that. lots of things. Learned that often making the system back to 100% original/factory/etc is the best thing you can/should do.

Just honestly trying to save you hassle, time and money :). But it's your boat if you really want to make some holes.. just let us know how it goes and get some pics please!

You`d need a strainer and a blow off valve.
YOu can`t control pressure thru some loop or a partially open shut off. It doesn`t work that way . Unless you have a midget in there to open the valve when you`re going slower and almost close it when you`re going faster and adjust everywhere in between.
Adjustable pickups would work also....still need a blow off and strainer
But this whole thing is unecessary as mentioned

Don't reinvent something that works... that's Mercury's job(LOL)!

OK thanks I will take a look at those

I had thought about looking into the VesselView by Mercury which might show water pressure but not sure if my engine is compatible or how to hook it up.

What places sell the blow-off valve? All the sites I looked at to buy transom pickups dont show anything like that.

I already have a basket strainer but was looking for something integrated with the pickup, because the strainers are bulky and hard to fit behind the engine

The juice ain’t worth the squeeze! Love it! Can’t wait to use it!!!lol

https://teaguecustommarine.com/em001...e-relief-valve

How would you clean something intergraded with the pick up ?
Basket is your best choice

The strainer should be installed somewhere accessible, depending on where you boat, it may need to be cleaned frequently.
Teague has great information.

That is a bad idea

lol, thanks. I've been there, done that. Modifying suspensions, ATVs, boats, radios, PWCs, etc. Sometimes you win, sometimes not so much. After years of messing with stuff, there's something that you just have to stop for a minute, think, will this make things better, and is it worth the effort? Does this thing work as it is now? Can I undo the changes? I've modified plenty of things for the better. This is not one of the things I would attempt without serious justification.

Also, if you migrate to a transom fitting for the water in, I would guess you'll have to remove the drive and bell housing to remove the hose that runs from the housing, to the transom, and or find a way to plug that hole, which I assume if left open, would fill the boat with water fast at speed!