Can you still get parts for these, props ect.? Why were they replaced with 3 a's. Looking at a boat w/these drives and wonder if this would a bad choice? Boats a 38 Fountain w/ 500hp's what do you think? Thanks!

I HAVE A #3 ON MY MAGNUM, AWSOME DRIVE I HAVE BEEN STUFFING OVER 700 HOARSE IN IT FOR 60 HARD HOURS...SEEMS TO BE HOLDING UP FINE...THE 3A IS A WAY BETTER DRIVE, IF YOU PLAN ON PUTTING BLOWER MOTORS WITH HUGE HOARSEPOWER IN YOUR BOAT.....BUT A PLAIN #3 is a great drine and yes you can still get parts but i dont think you will need them

I believe the #3a has the larger prop shaft, among other things , 26 Splines #3A, 19 splines #3

A little hard to get parts for the #3, that's my experience, especially the gears, NLA. http://www.mercruiserparts.com/selec...doc_nbr=+13668

http://go-fast.com/3A_drive.htm

Are # 3's and 3a's interchangeable ?Or are #3a's gimbals diff.

SSM #3, #3A, #4, and #5 is interchangeable.

Thanks to all !

I have a question.

If the pic above is of a #3, and has the vertical leading edge on the lower with the bullet pertruding from it, what differentiates this model, from the #3 with the crescent leading edge (similar to #4 lower, but with the longer (deeper) lower case)

vertical LE:



CLE LE: serial of this is: 38030982C which I think represents an '81/'82 small shaft #3



Any ideas??

The bottom picture is a later model,the #4s have larger vertical shafts and a shorter height.They also came with deeper skegs. 3s work well on V bottoms and 4s work well on cats.They also cam with large and small prop shafts.
Great drives but parts are getting real hard to come by.

OK thanks.

So, the second picture is a later style SSM #3, but not a 3A? when did the 3A come on the scene?

The one pictured was new in 1982, did 4 races in a UIM class II boat, then sat in a barn for 20 odd years, so the exterior has suffered a bit.
You can see from this close up, the UJ is still shiney, this was the first time it was taken off the boat since 1982.




The boat it came from:



found stored in barn:

After some input from the original designer/builder, deck removed, stretched from 30' 7" to 31' 10" and a pad keel added, mould taken and new deck produced.