Hi all,
The strut arrived from Catalina Direct, and it is a close, but not perfect, fit. The pre-drilled holes on the strut are about 1/4" further apart in all directions than the prior strut. Also, the strut's flange is a little too wide at the aft end, and will not allow enough space for any fairing or gelcoat without some trimming of the bronze flange. It looks like the original strut may have been trimmed in a similar way.
The guy at the yard who is doing the work said it may add a few hours of labor, and we agreed that I would check with you guys for suggestions on the best way to proceed.
First of all, I should mention that the strut that we received from CatalinaDirect does
not have the raised "CAT 34/36" letters on the port side of the casting as pictured on their website (Neither does Noah's):

Interestingly, the original (bent) strut that was pulled off my boat
does have those raised letters. This suggests that CatalinaDirect might have changed sources for this strut since the time they took their pictures.
Regarding narrowing the aft sides of the flange, I assume that this could be easily done by tracing the shape of the old flange onto the new flange, and grinding the metal off the sides using a rotating bench grinder.
Regarding the misplaced holes, the question is whether to enlarge the holes on the strut, or perhaps enlarge the holes in the boat. The locations are really only about 1/8" or so off for each hole, and the bolts from the original strut did not go straight through the hull. The lock nuts and glassed-in backing washers inside the hull are actually further apart than the holes outside the hull, suggesting that the bolts were angled out somewhat from the strut holes. So with the new strut's holes further apart, it might be possible to leave the backing washers in their current place inside the hull and just "cone out" the holes in the hull a little bit to allow the bolts to penetrate the hull at a different angle from the pre-drilled holes on the strut. Obviously, sealant would be called for in the enlarged holes, and of course, fairing compound and gelcoat would further help to seal the whole thing off. I think that this would be better and quicker than trying to expand the holes in the metal. But it all must be done carefully to preserve the alignment with minimal adjustment of the motor mounts.
How does this suggested procedure compare to others who have done this project? (Noah?)