Different boat but I had an experience I’d like to tell of. I owned an 18’ Bumble Bee glass bass boat. Got it used with a 2 liter 150 Mariner. Over the years I met several people that had the same hull with different motors. The one that had a 115 said he was wanting more ponies from day one, and not for the speed. He said his wouldn’t get up out of the water and scoot but seemed to be working hard all the time. Met another man that had the original motor die and replaced it with a 90 Honda, but he was happy just getting to fish and didn’t care about performance. Good thing, I never saw the nose rise, very underpowered. The last one I’ll speak of had a 2.5 liter 150 on my exact hull. Mine would run 63 with a 25 pitch laserII prop with a turned edge, great bow lift. His walked away from me easily and had the same prop pitch. Said his ran 70 but he never ran it that fast once he found out what it would do. My point; middle sized motors don’t give the performance the boat was designed for. Far better to have the extra power in reserve and not use it. Hole shots are also easier with the extra power. I owned my boat for 10 years and had no major mechanical issues with it and ran it like I stole it at least once every time out. Had it been a smaller motor like some of the others I spoke of, I don’t believe that would have been the case. That motor was not working at its max capacity just to make the boat move. Once it was on plane it settled in and didn’t have to work as hard to keep it there.
Glad the new motor is working well for you. Always nice to spend a day in a boat that does what it should and your mind can focus on other things, like fish.
Creativity is just intelligence fooling around