Hi Bill, Now you come up with a solution to the lift mount handle problem. Where were you with your ideas when I needed you? My solution was to cut down the handle a bit, plus very carefully making space for it in the lip on the transom. Of course moving the whole mount aft by a tad solves the problem the easy way............. Sheesh, you get too soon old and too late smart! On the other hand, I like my extra rectangular sail locker hatch aft of the regular one. Instead of having the Black Hole of Calcutta down there, I now have two access ports - the sail locker lid itself, plus the second one, which makes life very easy for getting at the cleaning bucket / sponges / cleaning materials / etc. without having to remove everything that previously was in the way; ..........and you can see what's there! I can't envision a 4 lb difference between the lift mount with springs and the one without springs. I'll bet they are exactly the same components, except mine has the two stainless springs. If they weight a half pound together that would be a lot. Bill, when I started my installation, I made a mockup of the outboard, from the clamp down, out of some scrap 1/4 inch lauan I had in the shop. Holding that up to determine the location of the lift mount is a lot easier than trying to hold the actual motor there while you try and draw some pencil lines. I have had my rudder apart several times: No elongation in the holes noted. Connie