stuck in forward gear 165hp alpha1 drive

[spareparts]

something was off, start over, drop the lower unit, put the shifter in fwd, rotate the shift shaft clockwise(when looking from above) while rotaing the prop shaft counter clockwise( looking from behind) to lock the lower unit in fwd gear, slide the lower unit up while rotaing the propshaft counter clockwise(looking from the rear), once all the way up, you should be lined up, snug one or two nuts up and shift the shifter while someone spins the prop shaft to see if it locks gear when its supposed to, and spins freely when in neutral. A couple of things to look out for, make sure you didn't drop the washer off the shift shaft that protects the shift shaft bushing, make sure the shift coupler(brass thing that stays in the upper unit) lines up with the shift linkage in the bell housing, the straight pice at the top of the coupler points fwd when the shifter is in fwd gear

[rb437]

Flatliner, Spare is the man, follow his instruction and your there. Here's how I supported and raised the lower unit with a ratcheting tie down strap. This made the job easier to do for me.

[spareparts]

thanks for the compliment. I usually find the drive lines up better if the drive is a little closer to verticle(trimed further down), its harder on the back though, I use my right knee while squating down to hold the drive in place while starting the nuts. Being right handed, i position myself on the port side of the drive. If you ever let the prop spin back clockwise, start over, it has moved the shift shaft out of position. After you do it for a couple thousand times, it get real easy