Water pump replacement

[Carl]

I unbolted the lower unit today and replaced the water pump and it all went well until I went to re install the lower unit back on the engine. It went in, but seems to be stopping about an inch shy of where it should be. The engine is in forward gear and was there prior to intial disassembly. I tried turning the propeller a bit to match the splines, but nothing seemed to help. Also, the shift shaft moved a bit and the propeller seems to be spinning freely now. I took the water pump apart and reassembled it to be sure that was done correctly. It still doesn't seem to go. It seems like the spline of the drive shaft doesn't want to fit in the inner spline of the engine. Any help and advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

Carl