Great pic of the foot showing when its in reverse, but no pic of when its in forward. The reverse looks like its one tooth off, as in going to far (why it needs to be pushed wih your finger)
Plug, drive vent plug
The plug on the top section of the drive which is removed when the drive is being filled
Put your fingers inside the gimble bearing and rotate it. See if it feels a smooth as silk with no roughness
I would say it was not, or something was damaged when putting together.
Disconnect the cable at the shift plate and see if the cable can be moved until the prop locks in the CCW direction. Then look at the shift foot and see if its facing straight forward
The pump doesn't suck much at all, and putting it in a tote even that high is not enough. On the hard it should always be with muffs
Since muffs do not work its either the muffs (cheap ones, something wrong with them) or there is a restriction between the drive and the pump
The VHF gets out much farther then CB and its clear. Last time I checked (few years ago) it was still illegal to put one in a vehicle, but as many things, its only if you get caught.
You should have 240 to 33 ohms (cold to hot) gauge and sender.
Take the wire off the sender at the thermostat. With key ON (motor OFF) ground the sender lead to the block. Doing this should peg the gauge hot
