1989 460 OMC King Cobra Outdrive-need to replace Shift cable, any tips?

[LiberatedCobra]

I have a 1989 OMC King Cobra outdrive powered by an OMC (Ford) 460 ci engine. I believe the shift cable needs to be replaced and from what I have read, the entire outdrive has to come off to do this. Does anyone out there have any tips on how to do this? The boat and engine are in great shape. I had the carb rebuilt and was ready to put into the water but after winter storage, I can't get the boat to shift out of neutral.