What you are missing is the big screw-up that OMC made. Those cut-down cranks had stainless steel rings on them, similar to speedy sleeves, for the seal to ride upon, Great idea, I suppose, however the stainless rings promptly fell off, rendering the seal useless. Of course, then water entered the crankcase and destroyed everything inside. Many didn’t even make it through the warranty period, especially here in salt water country. OMC had to replace many powerheads because of this engineering snafu.
