i did a search, and couldnt come up with anything reguarding how and where to install the drive... first off, this boat is an 18" deep vee, and the drive im installing is nothing more than a brass tube with a straight steel shaft running through it, with threads and a "drive dog" (notched piece of metal to spline with the cut out on the prop), and i will be hooking up the motor via a cable flex coupler. i know this isnt the most effecient way to do this, but its what i have, and i dont want to sink too much money into this boat as itll be my first surface driven boat. my questions are basically this: 1- how far down the transom (or up from the "keel") should i place it? 2- how much should it be up or down in relation to the water line i guess.. should it be parallel with the waterline and adjusted with trim tabs and battery placement? 3- how far back should the prop be from the boat? of course most of these will be ballpark estimates as the only person ive talked to thats built this little boat is ron olson (dumas short stuff deep vee-18), but he said he didnt do a surface drive. all help will be appreciated and further help me and other members in the future with setup!!

thank you!!

nate sanders