Crazy Project: 1967 Glastron Jetflite 1988 Yamaha 130HP V4 Advice Needed

[JRO1971]

Greetings Scream & Fly:

Very very long time lurker here and first time poster. I found out about the Scream and Fly website back in mid to late 90s when I last owned a Ventura race layup hull with a worked over Merc 2.5L. Since that time a kid and a divorce have happened which caused me to sell off many of my go fast toys. I have however managed to hang on to my old 1967 Glastron Jetflite V143 and I am about to pick up a new (to me) 1988 Yamaha 130hp outboard this Friday. The Yam tested out at 123-125psi compression across all cylinders and started and idled like a charm.

The Jetflite had it's transom rebuilt about 7 years ago and I told the boat builder the #1 goal was to build a transom to hold a 100hp+ motor. He obliged and the transom on the boat today is 10x what the factory had built. Since the time of the new transom I have been running the boat with a 1996 Mariner 60HP which results in about a 38mph top speed.

I have many questions about this motor swap but I will keep focused on the most important stuff right now. I also know that the Jetflite was designed in a time when consumers could not even imagine 60-70mph boat speeds unlike today. My goal is to build a very fun, holeshot biased boat that is propped for fun and acceleration rather than ultimate top speed which this hull is not built for. 60mph I think is a reasonable goal with this project. Here are my questions:

1) Hydraulic Steering vs Dual Cable Steering: Is Hydraulic Steer set up ok in this boat? I know in the past in go-fast boats dual cable was the way to go.

2) Cost and parts needed to convert 25" leg to 20"? - The one big downside to this otherwise mint motor is the 25" lower unit. The Yamaha includes a CMC manual jackplate that I believe allows for 6" of lift and looks to have 3-4" of setback. The 6" lift will offset the 5" longer lower unit by +1" but also somewhat defeats the real purpose of a jackplate. I understand the conversion from 25" to 20" is NOT a simple bolt on.....has anybody made the swap in a cost effective manner?

3) Hot Foot - mandatory or not? The hull (at 14'3") I expect to be a handful under hard acceleration.

4) Ideas to ultimate reinforce the transom? I am dropping boat off after labor day to have a soft floor in rear replaced by same builder who did the transom 7 years ago.....I have no pretense of leaving the back of boat behind two front seat passengers in tact......In other words I do not care if the transom reinforcements eat into the back storage space behind the only two seats in the boat. I am looking for ultimate transom integrity so that the boat will stand up to the new heavier motor.

Thanks in advance for any advice you can share. My goal is to build a retro old school boat that has some modern day HP and performance. I in no way intend to try to make a Hydrostream fighter which this hull will never be. Thx.