best way to remove 454 engine with vee drive

[anglosax]

Hi All
It looks like I have to lift the port engine on my 32ft welcraft St Tropez. There very litle room in the engine bay and I am trying to visualize the disassembly. After all the usual ancillary parts do I disconnect at the Veedrive output shaft to the propshaft, or is it better to unbolt the vee drive at the bellhousing and leave the tranny in the boat - any further tips or warnings will be apprieciated

 

[picklenjim]

Re: best way to remove 454 engine with vee drive

I'm assuming that your V-drive bolts directly to the trans. Beings you are limited to space it would probably be a lot easier to disconnect at the prop shaft and pull it out all together. If you disconnected at the bellhousing you would then have to move the engine aft far enough for the trans input shaft to clear the bellhousing. Putting it back in would be even harder. You would have to have the engine perfectly level with the trans and the splines would have to be lined up just right to bring the two together. Could be a PITA in such a tight spot. Would be a lot easier removing and reinstalling the trans/v-drive from the engine outside of the boat.