no expert here either but Ill give it a shot-
if your curent motor is counter normal and you are running a 1.5-1 gear then you should be turning a right handed wheel. If I remember correctly these motors run a little more money than standard rotation. Most rudders will have some offset put into them to counter the torque that you have. (see picture of mine) If the crusader you are looking at is standard rotation then you will need to go to a left handed wheel. I would recommend the standard rotation personally speaking if you are getting a new tranny too. You can put the heat xchanger any where you like chevy blocks the best place is the rear and ford blocks the front of the motor is the best. By the best I mean the easiest area to put brackets to support the xchanger. My buds i/o has the vertical type that mounts down the front side of the motor- that is an option for you as well. As Gary Hill stated in another post , think about putting e4xtension blocks in between your risers and exhaust manifolds to protect against water intrusion when backing down.
you can see the offset to the port in these pictures of my rudder-
hope this helps- craig
