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We needed to repower our Montauk 17 a couple of years ago when the original 90 HP Mercury 2 stroke failed. We ended up staying with 90 HP on our boat and chose the Evinrude ETEC. Regardless of what manufacturer you choose or whether it's DI 2 stroke or 4 stroke technology, you should be most concerned with the weight of the engine.

These hulls were designed well before 4 stroke engines were widely available and the 2 stroke engines of the day were typically much lighter for a given output than the equivalent engines today. My point to this is the balance of the hull, particularly low speed performance is greatly affected by the amount of weight on the transom. With a light engine such as the Yamaha F70 or one of the Evinrude options, the boats will plane at very low speeds. This is very important when the water is choppy. It's possible to put a heavier engine on these boats but that will typically require relocating the battery into the console, lower freeboard at the stern and so on. If you search through similar threads, you'll find a ton of valuable information on this site to make an informed choice. Good luck in your search.