Yank a V-8 305 Mercruiser with outdrive inplace?

[joetheis]

Once upon a time, oh last Aug. I bought this 1980 Silver Line Nantucket 19 1/2.
I got a GOOD deal on her, (you know what that means)!
She needed attention, but looking from a car mechanic's eye, looked solid.
Well, now the STEEL soft plugs, (sorry EXPANSION plugs) are leaking.
The side 4 were bad, the front 2 maybe 1/2 rusted.
I replaced the 6 in front with brass, but the back 2???
I'm hoping to get the season out of her, (I run @ the Thousand Islands, near Clayton N.Y., so fresh water).
Last weekend, I noticed one of my lift ram lines were leaking.
Off I go to the French Creek marina, to get one, (my home base).
Tell one of the tech my tale of woe about the soft plugs, after he sees me all dirty and greasey.
He told me they don't yank the outdrive when they pull a motor, nor use a alignment shaft, unless they replace the bearing???????
As long as I have @ 8" of room in front of the motor,, lift and seperate!
Can I get away with leaving the outdrive in place and just sliding the motor forward to get at the 2 expansion plugs?
Joe
Perhaps I shoulda stuck with my sailboat??

 

[thumpar]

It only takes 5 minutes if that to pull the drive so why not. You should probably do it for inspection anyway.

 

[alldodge]

Once upon a time, oh last Aug. I bought this 1980 Silver Line Nantucket 19 1/2.
I got a GOOD deal on her, (you know what that means)!
She needed attention, but looking from a car mechanic's eye, looked solid.
Well, now the STEEL soft plugs, (sorry EXPANSION plugs) are leaking.
The side 4 were bad, the front 2 maybe 1/2 rusted.
I replaced the 6 in front with brass, but the back 2???
I'm hoping to get the season out of her, (I run @ the Thousand Islands, near Clayton N.Y., so fresh water).
Last weekend, I noticed one of my lift ram lines were leaking.
Off I go to the French Creek marina, to get one, (my home base).
Tell one of the tech my tale of woe about the soft plugs, after he sees me all dirty and greasey.
He told me they don't yank the outdrive when they pull a motor, nor use a alignment shaft, unless they replace the bearing???????
As long as I have @ 8" of room in front of the motor,, lift and seperate!
Can I get away with leaving the outdrive in place and just sliding the motor forward to get at the 2 expansion plugs?
Joe
Perhaps I shoulda stuck with my sailboat??

Don't let him touch it. Sure you can probably pull the engine without doing the drive, but it's not his boat. If it isn't aligned and later fails or is damaged in the process you can't prove he did it. I'm sure he would be willing to repair it afterwards for a fee

 

[BF]

Even if you did manage to somehow pull the motor out without first pulling the outdrive, how would you get the coupler lined up to get the motor back in? Their advice sounds like hogwash (or something else) to me. Compared to removing and re-installing the engine, pulling and re-installing the outdrive should be easy. It's got to be done to grease the u-joints (which is supposed to be annual maintenance). But it seems few people actually do that... ever.

 

[HT32BSX115]

Sure. you can pull an engine without pulling the drive.

But you MUST remove the drive and install after re-installing the engine for all the reasons noted above.

 

[Bondo]

Once upon a time, oh last Aug. I bought this 1980 Silver Line Nantucket 19 1/2.
I got a GOOD deal on her, (you know what that means)!
She needed attention, but looking from a car mechanic's eye, looked solid.
Well, now the STEEL soft plugs, (sorry EXPANSION plugs) are leaking.
The side 4 were bad, the front 2 maybe 1/2 rusted.
I replaced the 6 in front with brass, but the back 2???
I'm hoping to get the season out of her, (I run @ the Thousand Islands, near Clayton N.Y., so fresh water).
Last weekend, I noticed one of my lift ram lines were leaking.
Off I go to the French Creek marina, to get one, (my home base).
Tell one of the tech my tale of woe about the soft plugs, after he sees me all dirty and greasey.
He told me they don't yank the outdrive when they pull a motor, nor use a alignment shaft, unless they replace the bearing???????
As long as I have @ 8" of room in front of the motor,, lift and seperate!
Can I get away with leaving the outdrive in place and just sliding the motor forward to get at the 2 expansion plugs?
Joe
Perhaps I shoulda stuck with my sailboat??

Ayuh,.... Is that Wilbur's place beyond the little bridge, or Jeremy's Marina, on the river side of the bridge,..??

Either way, I've lost all faith in which ever 1 yer talkin' 'bout,....
If Jeremy, I'll be talkin' to 'im 'bout it,....
Wilbur is a crazy ole coot, with a Great selection of old boat parts sometimes,...

Pullin' the motor, without pullin' the drive, is like changin' a flat tire, without takin' the hubcap off,....

The rear motor mounts are designed so ya lift Straight up, or set Straight down,....

 

[HT32BSX115]

Perhaps I shoulda stuck with my sailboat??

Well, they DO use less fuel!!

 

[joetheis]

It's our boy Wilbert!
He does have a good selection of "very used" boats there.
I ASS-U-ME that the guy at the marina was a Marine Mechanic and me just a dry land vehicle he'd know more! What was I thinking??!!
I was wondering HOW I'd be able to slide the shaft in place with the outdrive hanging off the back.
Just thought perhaps I could ave some $$ not buying the alignment tool and time.
Joe

 

[thumpar]

It's our boy Wilbert!
He does have a good selection of "very used" boats there.
I ***-U-ME that the guy at the marina was a Marine Mechanic and me just a dry land vehicle he'd know more! What was I thinking??!!
I was wondering HOW I'd be able to slide the shaft in place with the outdrive hanging off the back.
Just thought perhaps I could ave some $$ not buying the alignment tool and time.
Joe

You need the alignment tool either way. It is cheaper than pulling the engine and replacing the coupler after it goes from not aligning it.