Have 1976 OMC equipped boat. Doing some renovation and discovered some damaged wood behind instrument panel that needs to be replaced. Steering wheel passes through the center of this wood backing plate. In order to R&R wood, I need to first remove steering wheel. The steering wheel components are all OMC and are of the design that has a geared pointer in the hub that shows the relative position of the outdrive. Can't figure out how the thing separates. Have removed the outer part of the assembly down to where I have only the geared pointer components on the front of the instrument panel. Have also removed or untightened retaining nuts behind panel. However, the two sides (front-side pointer assembly and back-side cable assembly) will not separate. I'm figuring that these two components are connected by a splined shaft, but what is needed to separate them. I don't want to try some heavy hammering if it's not called for. What's the trick to this endeavor?
