i hear ya on the shipping. it can get outta hand. the pic you posted has the cocktail seating arrangement. some boats/seats have a little more room between engine cover and cocktail seats. guess that could be up to you as youre making them from scratch. they typically seat 6-8 people. cocktail seats may seat two people per side.
your hustler looks very much like my tahiti AND many other daycruisers. spectra 20, eliminator, bahner, hawaiian, etc. the pic you posted is of a southwind. companies of the era copied each others designs, changing very little to call it their own, or nothing at all.
i might be able to get you some pics of my interior, looks very much like that in your pic, maybe some rough measurements....but final size will be up to you in your boat. as it is now, i have more room between engine cover and seats....they dont touch....you can actually walk thru. its tight, but you dont have hop over seat.
while youre seats are out, have you checked the floor for soft spots? soft floor could mean some water damage....which if water intrusion was bad enough, could get into your stringers....which is a bit of work to repair/replace. think of the stringers as the frame of your boat and if they are weak/broken....the rest of hull is free to flex too much...bad news bears. stringers are hard to check without removing floor. so if floors are bad/soft, id remove it....then check stringers. it is possible to have bad floor and good stringers... you can search on here for stringer or floor replacement. should be quite a few who have done it here. a strong floor helps your boat a lot. will make it feel more rigid and confident.