[spareparts]

to realign the shift shaft( in the lower unit), look at it from above, consider the front of the drive to be 12:00, rotate the shift shaft clock wise as seen from above while spinning the prop shaft counter clockwise, the shift shaft would be in the 12:00 position for fwd gear, 9:00 for reverse, and neutral falls in around 10:30, Put the lower fully in fwd gear, make sure the shift coupler in the upper is pointed fwd. Put some grease on the top of the drive shaft, the shift shaft, and some on the rubber gromet in the water pump, I find it easier to have the drive trimmed about 1/3 from all the way down. S;ide teh lower unit back up, rotate the propshaft counter clockwise while you try to align the drive shaft splines, once you get close, check the alignment of the shift shaft. go ahead and get one or two nuts on the studs once everything aligns itself, before you tighten everything all the way up, have someone move the shifter from fwd, to neutral, to reverse while you spin the prop(counter clockwise), makiong sure it locks in each gear, if you spin the prop the wrong way, it will push the shift linkage out of fwd gear and you will need to start over. Don't worry its not that hard, I've been doing them for 22 years, and soemtimes I still have to walk away from one that aggrivates me, I give it 5 min an it usually slide right in.