1956 Elgin 7 1/2 hp impeller replacement issues

[volumepedal]

Greetings to my fellow "forum-ites" and blessings from the great state of Confussion! I purchased a 1956 Elgin 7 1/2 hp outboard several weeks ago. So far I have replaced the coils and cleaned the carb. I have fire in both spark plugs and good compression, so this baby should run. However when I tried to remove the foot to inspect the water pump and replace the impeller, I hit a wall. I have removed the four screws that appear to hold the foot on and have undone the gear shift linkage but something seems to be holding it on. Please give me some wisdom. Thanks

 

[steelespike]

According to my aftermarket ser. manual the procedure is straight forward.
My guess is the drive shaft may be stuck in the crank.
Some suggest hanging the motor upside down ,not too high,put some sort of cushion to catch the
power head when the leg separates. Crank it, wiggle etc.

 

[volumepedal]

Is there another way to skin this cat?? It is still hanging upside down. I have wiggled, jiggled and shook, not counting what I have done to the motor. I'm thinking about doing surgery on it with a baseball bat!!! Is it possible to remove the prop shaft and remove the water pump from that direction??? Thanks for all the input guys. I'm sorry to be a bother.

 

[F_R]

No, that won't work. But if you have to, you can just mortally force it off. That will drag the impeller key through the stainless steel wear plate, leaving the shaft in the powerhead. There are a couple of things you can do after that. One is to file a notch in the wear plate for the key to go through when you put it back together the same way you got it apart. Another option is after you get the shaft free of the lower unit, you can pull the powerhead and stuck drive shaft off the midsection and deal with getting the shaft out of the crank. Slide hammer, penetrant, vibration, are some methods used.

If you wait long enough, the splines will rust away out of the crank and no longer hold anything-----including not turning the drive shaft. Permanent neutral.

EDIT: Oops, I'm not too sure of what I just wrote. I'm not sure the key slot goes all the way through a Chrysler/West Bend/Elgin impeller. If it doesn't, then the shaft won't pull up out of it. I guess look at a new impeller and see.

 

[ronboonville]

The slot doesn't go all the way thru. My splines had a oring on it and no rust. It's a pin, not a key. I'm thinking it might be the housing just stuck. tap on both sides to see if it will move alittle.with screws removed. If you can get a gap you could slide small metal plates in between housings an put screws in from bottom to kinda put pressure on it. just a thot.

 

[brim_buster]

I had a gamefisher ( Force ) that had a stuck shaft in the powerhead, I soaked with PB and attached vise grips to the shaft and tapped the grips with a hammer and wah la it came out. Very rusted but cleaned up. I didnt use the power head in case the splines twisted in the powerhead then it would of been an anchor.

 

[volumepedal]

Actually the housings are separated about 1/8 of an inch, maybe a little more, it just will not let go and completely come apart. I have shot a lot of BP down that opening and then later Marvel Mystery Oil into it with no change. The gap is too small to do much through. I thought if I could get the lower gear case off I might could tap on the other end of the shaft and get it to break loose. I figure the shaft is rusted to the crank and thus stuck, but I don't want to damage the motor trying to replace the impeller. It's just frustrating. I have ordered a manual that covers 2 hp - 40 hp west bend motors for 1956-1962? I hope this may help. Bye the way, thanks for all the input. I 'm grateful.