TOPIC: Broken anti-ventilation plate?

The 1959 35hp that I just picked up has these Doelfin hydrofoils fins on it. This evening I pulled them off and found that on the port side the plate these attach to is broken. There's a good sized, half moon shaped chunk, missing just below the water intake. I'd like to use the motor once before we end the season. Are we going to cause a cooling problem if we use it with the broken plate? Are we better off putting the fins back on for our one last run?

Dave if it was me and I wanted to get out a few more times for the year then I'd leave the foil fin on. When you done for the season then remove the lower unit and see if you can get someone who can weld aluminum to fix it for you. If not keep an eye out for another lower housing and keep the old one for parts.

Bob

Ditto what Bob said. Finish up the season. Most local welding shops could fix that up for you, add some aluminum plate and then shape it. I've had this done several times on LUs. When finished you would never know it was even repaired.