Sideways alignment question 2002 5.0 MC

[telstar1]

I reinstalled my 5.0 yesterday,didnt mess with original alignment as alignment bar always slid in fine before. Still goes in fine. Thought Id slide in my 1 inch bar(never tried on this boat before) and see how it centred in the gimbal bearing. It is noticeably off to one side. Maybe 1/4 inch or so.I slacked off rear mount bolts,hoisted front a bit and sort of gently pried front mounts over a bit(there are slots )Got maybe 1/4-3/8 inch at most.A bit better now but not as good as Id like.I rotated engine to 4 quadrants to check coupler. Its not perfect but its out to left in all positions.
Think Im being too fussy? As I said alignment bar does go in OK.

 

[alldodge]

I reinstalled my 5.0 yesterday,didnt mess with original alignment as alignment bar always slid in fine before. Still goes in fine. Thought Id slide in my 1 inch bar(never tried on this boat before) and see how it centred in the gimbal bearing. It is noticeably off to one side. Maybe 1/4 inch or so.I slacked off rear mount bolts,hoisted front a bit and sort of gently pried front mounts over a bit(there are slots )Got maybe 1/4-3/8 inch at most.A bit better now but not as good as Id like.I rotated engine to 4 quadrants to check coupler. Its not perfect but its out to left in all positions.
Think Im being too fussy? As I said alignment bar does go in OK.

Did you use the rubber mallet on the alignment bar to center the gimbal?
What is your "1 inch bar"?

 

[telstar1]

Yes gimbal is aligned correctly.As I said alignment bar goes in easy.
1 inch rod or bar is a handy way of getting alignment close.It goes into the spline reasonably snug and you can see by where it exits thru the gimbal brg which way engine has to go to get centre.In fact IMO it is way more accurate than the alignment bar which,as in this case,is indicating good to go when in fact alignment could be better.There are a few posts I think from years back about the use of the 1 inch rod.

 

[alldodge]

Sounds like your good to go and better at it then I