mizeman, when I was deciding on buying a used Eliminator v-drive, I talked with Eliminator Boats. They said if a client came to them wanting a v-drive, they would sell him/her the boat but send it to Jim Wilkes to rig it for the v-drive. I would think that if you found a brand that you liked (and the manufacturer said it could work with a v-drive) you could follow that approach. It's still going to cost some bucks.