Recently purchased an 83 Bayliner to refurbish. Outdrive was removed, but the PO had cut the Ujoints with a torch saying the drive shaft was frozen in the block. What is the best way to go about fixing this problem?
I would pull the motor along with the flywheel cover (which is the red housing behind the motor) which houses the driveshaft and bearings. The ujoint has a female yoke that is rusted onto the driveshaft. Once you get the engine and FC out, you can split the FC from the engine and get working on getting the ujoint off. You'll surely need new seals and bearings in the FC.
To get the flywheel cover loose from the transom shield, pull the six bolts on the clamping ring which is back behind the ujoints in your pic. once the bolts are out, there are some other threaded holes in the ring that you thread the bolts into in order to jack the clamping ring out. Once the clamping ring is off,the engine and flywheel cover will be ready to come out of the transom shield.
Thank you Capt, it was inevitable that the motor had to come out anyway for the restoration process, so I'll deal with the shaft problem once it's on the ground.