yet another bracket height question. Need opinions.

[erebus]

So I repaired the transom on my new to me sceptre 23 over xmas break.
And last night I was getting ready to re-drill the holes for the armstrong bracket and a few things stood out to me.

From all the research I've done, the deck of the bracket should be approx 25" from the bottom of the keel for a 25" motor.
On this particular install it was put at about 22.5 inches from the keel.
There's approx 3" between the bottom of the bracket and the bottom of the keel.
Seemed low to me...

Its a single armstrong with a 30" setback, and a 48" deck.
So rule of thumb would put the motor cav plate at about 27.5" above the keel when all is said and done, approximately. Right?
That means there should be about 5" of transom from the keel to the bottom of the bracket, not 3".

Don't have a lot of experience with the boat in the water (she's new to me) and the previous owner said she performed beautifully (but he isn't super experienced).

From the pics the owner sent me (and from the corrosion) the nose of the motor sits in the water all the time when shes trimmed up at rest (2012 Etec 225).
So that also makes me think she's low. The motor was also mounted as low as possible for some reason, so I can raise the motor up a few inches just by itself.
Didnt measure where the cav plate was before I took it apart. My bad.

So I'm looking for opinions on whether I move the bracket up while its off the boat and the fiberglass supplies are out.

Here are a couple of pics as she sits in the water before I took everything apart.

[thehermit]

Seems like the bracket swim platform was at the static water line and even with that the motor was mounted as low as possible. I would tend to keep it like that unless you can cheat the bracket even lower. You can always raise the motor but once that bracket is on your all done with that. I have been up against the same issue with not being able to trim up all the way and out of the water. Its more a function od bracket overall depth that mounting height.

[Mshugg]

The Armstrong Instructions for my 30” setback single bracket said to mount the platform 23” above the keel.

[erebus]

Originally Posted by Mshugg

The Armstrong Instructions for my 30” setback single bracket said to mount the platform 23” above the keel.

Ah, thats good information right there.

Last night I spent about 3 hours mocking up with a forklift, finally decided to raise the platform 1".
Bringing the deck right up to about 23" from the keel. So pretty much bang on.
Was about 22" inches originally.
Now have 4 inches between the bottom of the bracket and the bottom of the keel.
I think I'm happy with that.