It looks like the max gross for my airplane is 1916, with empty weight of 1266.  That is a reasonable 'hard' number that I see no need to exceed.  The combination of the relatively high empty weight (1266) with a 'factory' gross of 16xx was a big cause of concern for me, and is what originally lead me down this train of thought.

With the legal weights no longer being an issue, I'm going to turn my attention to CG ranges.

Thanks again.

Keith