I found a factory Fountain set-up from a member. It should fit without any issues (fingers crossed)..
Thx for all the replies..

So when it comes to cylinder length, is it just a packaging issue or is a wider or narrower setup preferred for some reason? What about steering throw? Is that more or less with a longer or shorter cylinder setup?

IMHO, it would be best to run as long of a cyl as you can, as long as the throw isn't so much the drives hit their mechanical limits. Mounting longer cyls seems like it would put less stress in the gimble ring since the cyls would put more energy into moving the drive/s side to side, as opposed to a short cyl that would push the drive/s more towards the rear. Of course, this is all theory. In the real world, probably doesn't make a measurable difference. On a lot of twins, you are pretty limited on what length cyls will fit.

Steering throw would be almost 100% related to cyl stroke. Different manuf have different distances from the cyl mounting point on the wing plate to the upper/lower swivel shafts. The shorter this distance, the more steering angle would increase for a given amount of cyl stroke.

Generally speaking a longer cyl will have more stroke, but not always.

BTW I'm not an expert, but I did drive by a Holiday Inn on the way to work..

You have a few things come into play, and dont get hung up on it as there are so many variables you could get dizzy.

Cylinder length/throw, look at the its system, it pushes damn near straight out with a really short throw and no problems...

Cylinder volume, given the same pressure and volume by the pump and helm a shorter cylinder will be slightly more responsive than one twice its size,

Stroke length, the longer the stroke in the system the finer the movement.

Realistically, dont sweat the small stuff, find a system that fits in the alloted space and you will be happy.l

I agree.

Get the rams that fit the best and use a different displacement helm, if needed, to tailor the responsiveness to you liking. The IMCOMarine site has a pdf catalog that includes lock to lock revolutions for various cylinders. Anywhere from 1.17 turns to 12+ turns lock-to-lock.

Just came across this calculator. Thought ya'll might find it useful.

http://www.tss.trelleborg.com/global...alculator.html

I bought an entire used '89 latham steering system to go on my old 79 scarab a few months ago. It was confusing to start with. I called latham and dealt with tom gongala. I had them rebuild and rechrome my old cylinders (chrome plated bronze). At first I just called to get some advice. He was happy to discuss what I had and walk me along before he ever knew he was gonna make any money off of me.Mine was kind of a special deal. My cylinders were too long to install between the drives, and too short to install outside the drives and have a decent stroke and be in line with the centerline of the drive up/down pivot point. So I had to have a machinist to make the cylinder ends longer (yellow circle). Hopefully you won't have to have this kind of stuff done.

It is well worth the effort when you get done. You can be at full throttle, and just let go of the wheel. No way you did that in my boat before!