Well, I am not getting anywhere with my drive so I have to face my 3 options. 1) to apply brutal force between the drive and the gimbal housing with a tool (see picture 1) that I am sure will do something. It's the same method as applying force with a wooden wedge between the drive and the housing and applying power with the trim rams or some other force. Only this tool will kill something for sure. It is very efficient because you can apply incremental force by just turning the 2 nuts, until either the drive pops or breaks or the gimbal ring or housing or transom breaks. And that was too much of a gamble and if the latter happens a price too high to pay. The second option was to find a very competent welder who knows how to handle a cutting torch and cut the drive shaft and the coupler. Another scary thought and therefore I pass on that one too. The third option was to cut the spline shaft and the coupler, so I concentrated on that. At first I thought of using a 4 1/2" angle grinder, but the disc was too small to make it all the way through the coupler. So I put a 6" disc on it, but in order to do that I had to remove the safety shroud to accommodate the 6" disc (picture 2), which would turn this grinder in to a very risky and dangerous instrument. With the lack of space to work in and not having a solid grip on the grinder I was afraid that if I loose control of the grinder for whatever reason it would become a loose cannon, especially since it had a solid ON/OFF switch and not a paddle switch. So I tossed that idea as well. So I went to Lowe's and bought a serious carbide tipped thick steel cutting blade (pictures 3,4,5) for my no-nonsense Bosch reciprocating saw (that thing will cut a Sherman tank open) and went to work. 2 hours later of the most uncomfortable labor, success became a reality. The drive shaft and the coupler were cut and separated (picture 5). Needless to say that I stripped the engine already in preparation for removal, removed carburetor, remote control linkage, removed exhaust manifolds and risers etc. That gave me the needed space to work on behind the engine and me laying on top of the V-6. I still think separating Siamese Twins would have been easier, but what do I know, it's done. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. Now I will have to deal with the rear motor mounts which should be a piece of cake in comparison and out goes the engine. And then I can deal with the cut off drive shaft, clear it, and remove the drive (if Murphy has no objections LOL). But this will have to wait until after hurricane Laura is done with our Gulf Coast here. I am expecting a couple of rough days here in Mobile on Tuesday and Wednesday. - Keep y'all posted.
