Bracket or no bracket on a 79 23' cc

[kmoose]

You will still have to deal with CG issues either way to some degree. Spend your money building the deck light and moving the batteries forward. The 10" bracket won't be an issue considering you will be getting rid of the weight of the giant engine well. A big set of tabs will fix anything else underway and provide additional planing surface area that is adjustable as well.