Merc 2.5L on Seafari?

[muddywater]

There are lots of race motors for sale over here right now. My question to you, is how are you guys putting them on your boats, they all have 20" or shorter shafts. Have you guys not raised your transoms or mounted it on a lowered jack plate or something?

The reason I ask is that I have a 1980 115 Mariner/Merc inline 6 at 278lbs which is about to come off the boat this week so I can rebuild the transom. The original owner claimed it had 17 hours on it and the lower unit looks like it could be brand new except for the faded paint on the whole motor. I just tested the compression and it was 130 across the board if my cheap tester is not lieing. Besides the fact that it needs a switch box ($280 to buy 2 since you have to install in pairs), is it even possible to mount this or one of the 20in shaft racing motors on a 25in transom with a jack plate or is that just a bad idea?