Mercury v6 2.6L 260hp High Output Factory Prototype silver grey

[4fiddyR]

Hello everyone,I bought a used boat last week, and it has this 1996 Silver/Grey 2.5L 260hp Mercury v6 motor on it. The top of the cowling where the pin goes through is broken, and I am going to take it to the autobody shop to have them fix it for me. So, I was googling the internet trying to see if I could find a replacement in case this one cannot be fixed, and I can't find another one like it. All the others are Black. Is this some kind of special motor or something? The previous owner said he had sent the block in to Mercury Racing and had it "re-nikasiled" and it has less than 20 hours on the motor since it was rebuilt.I already posted in the Rapid Craft drivers thread, and ClimateMaster mentioned the rings in this motor are only good for 130 hours. Can somebody point me to a book or something that I can learn more about this specific motor? It says on the cowling in block letters: High Output Factory Prototype. Is anyone here familiar with this motor, and do you think it really is a prototype? The serial number tag says 1996 on it.The previous owner said he always ran 100 octane fuel and Mercury Racing oil in it, which is what I plan to do. But, as an amateur performance boat owner; what extra precautions can I do to make sure I don't grenade this motor? Also, I would like to know as much as possible about it when I get to the beach this summer so if somebody asks me I don't look like a total noob.Thanks in advance.