OMC drive boot punctured by the clamp

I have a 1986 rinker with an OMC 400 mechanical stringer drive. Approximately 5 yrs ago I put a new transom boot on it and found out shortly afterwards that the wood under the motor was rotten. We pulled the motor, leaving the drive and boot assembly in place, and replaced the rotted wood. Ran great that year but only used it for a few hours. The next year we put it in the water and a steady stream of water was coming in through two very small puncture holes where the screw part of the clamp touches the rubber boot. I'm not sure if I put the clamp back in the correct position. I put it on the bottom side of the drive, but have been told that it needs to be on the top of the drive. When the clamp is on the bottom or the top you can see it stretching the rubber boot. I was told that it can't touch the rubber but not sure how to prevent it and I don't want to put another boot on just to have it do the same thing. Any suggestions?

kimcrwbr1 said:

Sounds like you may have other issues as well. According to the diagrams the screw is on top for the clamp its is possible the boot buckled a little under the clamp causing a small leak.

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I was afraid that I didn't put the motor mounts back in the exact same spot after replacing the rotted wood, but even if I move the engine forward or back the clamp still pushed on the seal. If i'm off it's not by much. I talked to a marina and they told me that it may need to be shimmed. I can't find anything in the manuals about shimming or if the clamp is supposed to push on the seal or not. Any ideas?