My Ron Hill Yamaha Style Cleaver just came in yesterday and seems to run pretty well up high and I want to try raising my motor even higher to see how it responds. My factory water pickups are the plastic insert type on both sides and I want to raise it a little higher than what I think they are capable of. I don't want to try a nosecone yet because I am not anywhere near blowout speeds but I do need something that will hold good water pressure.

Is there anything I can try before tapping a hole, filling in the area below my water pump, and running a transom pickup. I've seen nitrocases that have the top 2 holes plugged and bottom 2 opened up, but I have the plastic grate. Not sure what to do...

Motor is a OMC 50, 6in jack plate, small gear case. 1648 aluminum boat. Sorry if this is a "wordy" post but I'd appreciate any ideas.