Alaska,
I think the consensus is 2" drop is best. Both Zeus & Bigmeat went with that. I was thinking of 1 1/2" but will end up going with 2" after all.
Zeus,
Yours looks cleaner but I'll prolly go with the pattern that Bigmeat used so that I don't have to try & match that radius on the side.
Now I just need to find a machine shop that won't rape me ($$$).