Here it goes. I'm not really sure if this is a great idea or a really bad one. the boat looks to be in disrepair but i'm really just cutting a few rotten spots out of it and reinforcing it along the way, the transom and structure are still very strong. with a 9.5 and a factory prop i was seeing about 25 mph on the GPS which is accurate, but it wasn't fast enough. so i found this 1960 18 hp johnson which runs like a top (i was actually a bit disappointed when i bought it and it was running, no fun for me) and i plan to run it on this boat. how fast do you think i could expect to see? i weigh about 160 then its just boat and engine from there on. also any ideas on a steering setup would be great. i used a straight bar on the back of the 9.5 but i don't think that will work here. there isn't enough space at the front for a conventional setup since the boat is so narrow.