took her under the knife (need some opinions)

[SonOfABeach]

Thanks for the reply's all Info like this is exactly what I was hoping for.

bushwacker - Thanks for the tip on 65bowrider, been reading over this thread, good stuff. Trying to find a locale distributor of coosa, closest I've found so far is 5 hours away and $495 for a 1.5" sheet Just emailed Coosa, hopefully I can get a distributor list or something. I see that you helped him out with his transom, do you know what kind of Coosa it was (bluewater 26 or 20), wondering if 20 is strong enough for the job (15% lighter than 26). Also that fuel tank info was great!

gfs - the 175 is 474lbs vs 420lbs for the 140, 54lb difference for the power. I think I'm sticking with the 175, the dealer is 2.5 hours away, so its not just a matter of walking in to chat. I've moved the batteries forward, I can move my fuel tank forward a bit (more on that later in this post), maybe keep a couple gallons of water in the anchor locker up front if need be to help balance.

countshock - that would be awesome if you could. much appreciated. I looked around the literature but couldnt seem to find what bushwacker was talking about, I'll keep looking though. A pic would definitely help.

I popped up the console and investigated the tank situation and boy am I glad I did. Opened the hatch up and found the tank turned a little cockeye'd in there. Turns out the previous owner installed a new tank, plumbed it, but decided that he didnt need to secure it in any way, it was just sitting on the floor of the built in coffin. The only thing keeping it in place were the hoses. I cant imagine what would of happened if I had filled that up on good faith from him and tried to run with that thing pounding around inside there. No sign of any kind of leak, pretty clean in there too, tank in good condition, think I should get it pressure tested. Also, reading Dave Pasco's article he suggests building a frame for it to sit on. I was looking at what Strick did and his framed in pieces of wood were glassed to the stringers and resting on the center stringer. My coffin is completely flat, would I still need to build up some support on the bottom to keep it from being in direct contact with water and allow air to flow under it? I'll post some pics of what it looks like in there. Thanks guys!

Dirty SeaCraft