1995 mariner 60 lower leg

[joed]

1995 Mariner 60HP outboard.

Is it possible to remove the lower leg and leave the power head attached?
I have a cooling system leak at the top of the leg and am trying to avoid lifting the whole power head off. There is a 2" spacer between the power head and the leg that the steering is attached to. I would like to remove below the spacer/steering connection.
I have removed the lower gear case and put water via a hose up the cooling tube. Most of it comes flowing back down the leg. None of it is coming out inside the cowl so I don't think it is the upper gasket.

 

[joed]

Never mind. The issue has been resolved.
It turns out that when the shop installed a water pump seal kit they used a seal between the pump and tube that was wrong. It had both ends the same diameter. The tube is a smaller diameter than pump output. On inspection of the old seal it was obvious that the in and out diameter was different. Installed the old seal and all is well.
Now I will go back to them and see if I can get a proper new seal.