How far can you raise an 87 OMC 4.3 while changing motor mounts?

[KM7]

How far can I jack up the front of the engine without damaging anything. I need to replace the motor mounts. 4.3 ltr V6 I/O. I put a small car jack under flywheel and raised the motor just enough to take the load off the motor mounts. I got out the 4 wood screws that held the motor mounts to the stringer. I want to lift engine a little higher to slide a 1/4 piece L shaped aluminum under the motor mount. Will that hurt anything. I don't want to damage the transom. Stringer are mush!!

Tonight I was able to get the motor mounts out. Had to cut the bolts in two to remove them.

I want access around the stringers to do some stringer repair before I replace the motor mounts.

How far can I raise the engine w/o damaging anything? O/D is still attached.

 

[scipper77]

I am not an OMC guy but based on my experience with mercruisers you might as well pull the outdrive at this point. If the stringers are mush then the outdrive is misaligned which will lead to a failure in the coupling. If you fix the stringers (which I won't get into because a proper repair is basically a full restoration job) you would need to have the drive realigned either way. Again this is based on mercruiser so there is always the chance I am wrong. Hopefully someone else can come along and give you a better answer.