Here are some bad pictures of my ride in the shed it has been stored for the last 30 + years.

the viper does not need the set back with a big motor, the added bow lift with a setback plate makes it porpise bad untill you get on the pad, the best set up i have tried was a 15'' mid section merc,low water pick up,28 pitch round ear prop, with the motor bolted to the transome but on the highest point you can go, we had the nosecone about a half inch under the pad. but to cut your mid section from 20'' to 15'' your looking at 1200 bucks. so if you have to try to find a jack plate with as little set back as possible, nothing more than 4''s. and to my surprise these little boats handle alot better at all speeds with no weight under the bow.

i'm putting a 200 merc on my viper as well
so no lift/setback is best ?
should i set the motor direct on the transom?
motor's in the garage right now not on the boat
i never had a transom lift on my valero and it ran amazing with the motor bolted direct

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pleIl76kT4

Working on it, might take a while

Some pics of the comp Ventura please?

you should be able to wipp all of them, i will help you with your setup as much as i can

I should update that it is a 1975 Ventura competition hull (open stringers with a later added in floor) and a stock 1978 235 with a hydraulic jack plate. So yes it gets up on the pad and with some more seat time should definately be able to outrun most jetskis.

if you have three across seating you should be ok with the tank under the splash well or as far back as you can go, just dont try any weight up under the front deck. good thing you got it to chine walk cause that means the hull was up on the pad. good luck.

I will want to keep the weight in the middle of the boat? Right now it is setup for 3 across seating with the driver in the center, the 12 gallon gas tank right behind the seats. I was thinking about moving the tank back but it the boat will handle best where it is, I guess I can just build a seat over it to carry a forth person or a spotter for waterskiing. I don't really plan on drag racing with it but do enjoy a little speed. The last time I drove it was 5 years ago and I did get it to chinewalk pretty easily, so obviously it goes faster than 55

also to run that motor on the ventura, you need to keep the motor as close to the transome as possible, i have the same problem running the 235 on my viper so instead of running a jackplate i cut my midsection and clamp brackets to 16''. you need solid motor mounts top and bottom, low water pick up, and do not put weight up front. boat will like the weight centered just behined the fron seats.my buddy dragged raced the same boat and set up but with a merc we modded to 15'' mid. it was a stock 2.4 block and he went in the upper 80's on top end, the only thing that really holds the small boats from running 100 mph is driver skill. very very tempermental. good luck