[macojoe]

I think you will be fine with the casting deck removed as it is part of the liner and not the hull its self.
The hull is the same no matter what you have, CC Cuddy or Dually.
The liner has been changed a few times in it 30+ years, and I might be wrong but I believe they made a non casting deck, at some point?

As for the moving of th gas tank, I have been on a CC and they ride real nice!! Much better then the Cuddy's! I think the cuddy has to much weight forward there fore it slaps much more in the slop.

I to have a set back bracket on my boat, and feel that it does ride a bit better since I moved the I/O out of the boat, and the weight of the motor out of the boat.

So yes the moving of the tank will help, but how much should you go inn order to achieve the right ride??

Also the more you move to the front, the more the tank is going to take a beating! The further back the softer the ride.

How about leaving the tank were it is or moving it up just a bit, and moving the CC up so when you are driving your weight will be the ballast you need?