I am working on a 70s Mercury 9.8 lower end. I have to swap the short shift shaft for a longer one in order to make this lower end work for the motor I have. Swapping the shaft is no problem, but if you look at the pic you will see that the mating surface for the lower end is boogered up pretty bad on the front tip of it. Looks like there was some kind of a sealant or something that had been gooped on it before in order to get a better seal there. I cleaned it off. Any suggestions as to how I can get as good a seal as is possible with this peened over metal. Whoever was working on it before me must have been hammer happy, or they stuck a chisel in there to crack open the lower. That is just a wad of paper towel stuck down in the shift shaft hole to keep dirt and stuff out. Any advice is welcomed except "it won't work"!! It has to work...this is the only lower unit housing I have. Thanks.
