[mlofton8]

Thank's for the input. My main concern is whether or not to raise the transom that extra 5". I'm on a tight budget here too try and get this thing up to par. Currently it's got a 86 200 Evinrude on it- gonna try and sell it and go with a newer Yamaha, Finding a 25" shaft might be a little easier. Not gonna be fishin in too rough of sea's, or backing down.

Serenety-- sounds interesting bout taking out the old bilge access' bet that gives alot of room in the aft area, but i'm gonna do alot of relaxing in this thing so, i'm thinking of just adding cushions to the seats, maybe a tackle locker??

I have another problem....I've got the original big center console that I want to redo, but putting a t-top that runs along the side of the console is not gonna leave any room to walk by. Been trying to find a t-top that mounts to the console but not to sure how sturdy it's gonna be..