So I am rebuilding lower unit on 1976 55 hp Johnson. I am at the point where I am need to remove the pinion gear from the drive shaft. The manual I have shows two different sections for the gear housing. One is for a hydro mechanical gearbox, the other is for a mechanical gearbox. Mine is the mechanical. Instructions for disassembling the two different types are very similar. However in the hydro mechanical it says in order to remove the prop shaft that after I have removed bolts from shift rod housing I should pull up on shift rod with one hand, and pull out on prop shaft with other hand at the same time with enough force to disengage them. The mechanical instructions don't tell you how to remove the shaft at all. It simply goes from removing snap rings to removing pinion gear, yet says to put a socket on the pinion gear nut, which you cant do with the prop shaft in place. So I tried the instructions for hydro mech gear box. I pull up on shift rod and out on prop shaft at same time but that doesn't work. Maybe I'm not doing it forcefully enough, but I don't want to damage the shifting mechanism.