Stuck bottom unit 1964 Mercury M60 Twin 6hp

[paul.aston]

Hello, I just acquired a lovely old M60 twin 6hp. It's in seems to be in good mechanical shape with good compression and a decent spark, but it needs a new impeller. I've downloaded the manual and also followed this guide: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdmVWzLor4s (It's for the 4hp, but they seem very similar)

I've removed the nuts at the top and underneath the bottom unit and pulled it down, but it gets stuck after a couple of inches. The manual suggests turning the propeller counter clockwise as you pull, and that has no effect. The unit now seems to be jammed and I can't push it back up either.

I can't see anything on the gear linkage apart from a small grub screw just inside the bottom unit housing, could this be what's causing it to stick? I though the whole link should come out the bottom?

Before I resort to 'percussive maintenance' I would gratefully welcome any suggestions as to what I may have missed.

 

[Guest]

On my mid 90's 6hp i had to unscrew the bolt holding the shift linkage. Do not go off that video he shows nothing on how to disassemble the lower unit.

 

[paul.aston]

Okay, I'll ignore the video. Where was the bolt located for your linkage? The only thing I can see is at the very top of the linkage in the head unit, and thats inaccessible without popping out the fuel pump