Older boats had the drives deeper. They were heavier hulls and needed the drive deeper to carry the bow. Also, hulls were not as efficient. 8" is in the basement. I think my '93 24 outlaw was in the 7.5" range as well. You would most likely benefit well from a -2" shorty. How much benefit??? Who knows till you try. Might try a post in the Baja section as well.

What hp are you running???? More power also helps the carry the bow and allows for higher drives.

Airtime, what differences did you exerience in terms of speed handling, etc?

I run a standard 502 MPI , 415 hp, perhaps some more with Gil exhaust. The boat weighs in at 3600 lbs + gas and driver. I will try a post in the Baja section to see if someone else has tried shorties on these old boats. Thanks.

Does that go for twin setup also? Does the transom angle make a difference when you calculate? I noticed in my Mercuiser books there is a table for trs and the x dimension changes slightly with variations in the transom angle.

Thanks Joe

4 inches should be the norm.