Jack, before installing permanently the skeg control box and finally assembly, I would test the cable and skeg blade. Put bike lube on the cable and install skeg blade. I would probably cut off about 3 to 4 inches of tubing off the end to expose the wire cable. Make sure you still have plenty of cable length for you final installation.

You should get a good feel on the smoothness by pushing on the cable and watching the blade drop.

In watching the blade drop you will get an idea of how far the blade drops and how much the cable travels. You will see that blade will start to come out of the slot, this will determine how much to strip the tube back from the wire cable during final assembly. This is where your instructions talks about 40 degree travel of the blade.

You can also test the control box by attaching the wire cable to the control box; then, you can hold the cable tube and move the knob to make sure everything travels fine. Once tihe control box and skeg are tested, then complete your finally assembly per your outline.

FYI---On my kayak when the skeg is up fully, the control knob is approximately in the center of the control box.

Good Luck

K.Greer