A complete restoration sounds like a good idea.

When the Crosby's built the 18 I/O they added a hook in the bottom right at the transom. It is 1/8 deep (or less) and about 1/4 inch long if my memory serves me.

It made a significant difference in the way the boat gets on plane. When I converted my boat to an outboard, I removed that hook because due to the weight reduction, I did not need it.

jim

 

I don't want to litigate this, or any other issue. However, try this, put you boat and motor on the trailer a few inches back fro the normal position, so that the bow is not touching the front bumper. Now, either tow it or just hold onto the bow and rock it up and down. On mine, the bow of the boat will move up and down considerably relative to the trailer. This is the trailer flexing. The frames are pretty wimpy, and therefore do not make a good cradle for recore. The whole rig is considerably stiffened when the bow is tight against the front bumper. The original Hydrodyne trailers are probably an exception to this due to the way the boat contacts them.

The boat is considerably stiffer than the trailer.

jim