More info… The shift shaft is a pain. It is a sleeved connector that is in a difficult to access place, and it has to slide down into the lower unit over the splined shift shaft. I generally trim the motor all the way up, and have my son hold the lower unit in place while I use a pair of hemostats, or a screwdrive, or whatever to position the shift shaft aligned with the coupling. I then tell him to raise it and that usually works. It might be necessary to wiggle the shift lever to get it to properly engage so it can slide in. Just be sure that if the shift lever is in neutral, the lower unit is also in neutral, or you will get to take it back off and fix this and then reinstall. Been there, done that, got the T-shirt. The water tube is generally not a problem, but you have to make sure the lower unit has the silicon tube into the water pump, or that it is still attached to the metal water tube, and this has to be guided into either the tube on the water pump, or the hole where the silicone seal fits depending on whether the seal is attached to the water pump housing or the tube. if the water tube comes completely out, use a light and stick it back in the upper seal first, or you will probably never get everything to align properly. Finally the driveshaft can be problematic. I use a big screwdriver (make sure kill switch is off) and pry against the flywheel teeth to move the flywheel enough to align the drive shaft splines with the crankshaft splines. A touch of 2-4-C on the splines is a good idea, but _none_ should be on the top of the shaft. It is a close fit and the grease can prevent the driveshaft from seating all the way into the crank. If you go slow and carefully, it should not be too hard. The more times you do it, the easier it gets, but it never gets “real easy” as three things to align needs several hands, or at least more than 2. I have done it by myself many times, but it is a lot easier with an extra set of hands, or else something to help hold the lower unit up. Dropping it could be expensive. For a 1-man job, it is easier to trim the motor vertically so that the shift shaft dangles at the right location, then you can put something under the skeg to hold it up (a floor jack works great) while you position things correctly. Do _not_ force anything. Note that the two front side bolts have to go on first as the studs will interfere with the nuts if you tighten the others first. Once you get those on, you should have someone lift the lower unit upward so that you dont use the two nuts to “pull it up” but just take up the slack. You should be able to lift it up by hand to completely close the gap. using the nuts to do this can cause damage if there is a bind somewhere you dont notice.2008 Pantera Classic2014 Mercury Pro XS 200
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