aTX427

with that kind of budget, I would take a hard look at arnerson.

CignificantOther

Hey Falcon, I've got wet #6 drives on a Top Gun. Always thought they were much heavier than #5, feeling much better now. Do you know the actual weight lbs.of each?

Where should the nose cone be below the running surface of the hull? Drives are 35" center and Top Gun has notched transom, no steps. Turn Props in or out? Set drives totally straight/parallel or prop shaft out 1/4"? Should this vary depending on prop rotation?

Presently turning in, drives straight, nose cones approx. 1 1/2" below hull.

Falcon

Not sure how high you can go, do you have spacers in the drives now? If you really want to get more performance, go to the drysumps. They can mount on your current transom assemlies. There are a couple of rebuild shops doing conversions, TNT & Colabella.
As for toe, various recommendations have been around here. Best speed is straight "while running" (some feel that you should dial in some toe for the "pull" of the props and that changes with direction). There are some racers that like some toe angle to keep pressure on the skegs to hold the boat straight. The wetsumps had the older skeg, which you might want to true up and thin a bit.
Lots of opinions on these issues, no solid answers. That's why I mention the drysumps, a definite performance gain. You also loose the extra weight of about 8 gallons of gear lube on a twin!

Good Luck

CignificantOther

Do you know the actual weight of the #5 and #6?

There are 2" spacers on the drives, but feel that is a bit too much to remove on a pleasure boat. Presently, if the drives are not totally in, the props will cavitate when getting on plane. Does rotation have an effect on blowout when planing a V-hull?

According to your comments, since the props are turning "in" the forces at the prop are pulling to the sides of the boat. Therefore, the leading edge of the drive should be slightly wider to counteract this outward prop torque. Is this correct?

I will price the conversion to dry sump.

Thanks Again

Falcon

Turning in wants to pull the drives towards each other. To adjust the toe to compensate, you would toe them in (nose cones closer than the propshafts). There have been so many theories here, I think a person would have to experiment a little and see what the boat likes.
You can get spacers in half inch increments. Step bottom boats can get away with some pretty high drive heights, not sure about your Top Gun. Maybe Tres Martin could give you some recommendations on your setup. I also know that he could give you some insight on the difference in speed between wet 6's and drysump versions.