Some progress, more questions... I removed the bell housing.. a bit of a pain for sure, as I suspected everything looked good, will go back with all new as long as I am there, Due to age and lack of knowledge on what I was looking at it needed to be done... peace of mind is worth something when yer in 6 footers.....!
I am wondering about the sequence for reassembly, using MC book # 14 and its a bit vague... for me anyway.

My thoughts:
Attach shift cable to BH
Attach water pick up hose to nipple on BH
Attach exhaust bellows to BH
Attach oil reservoir hose to BH
This is where it gets fuzzy, seems like I would install the BH at this time, feed the cable thru the transom and install the shift bellows to the gimbal plate. Connect the h2o hose, oil line and exhaust bellows to the appropriate connections on the gimbal plate. Then force the main bellows thru the driveshaft opening...?
Or attach both the driveshaft bellows and exhaust bellows to the gimbal plate and then use a bellows tool to pull it back to the BH...? Do I need a bellows tool for this...? I can make one if its essential....better ideas....?