The patient is a well-salted 1984 OMC 115 crossflow, s/n J809J14. The engine is off the boat and the lower unit has been removed, followed by removal of the front/rear exhaust housing covers and the miraculous intact removal of all six long bolts, four nuts, and two short bolts. (Thank you, Jesus and mapp gas!) But initial attempts to separate the powerhead from the exhaust housing indicate further prayer and persuasion are in order.
I took about a 5 ft. piece of 2x12 and bolted the bottom of the mid-housing to it, then slipped each end of the 2x12 under the extended legs of my hoist, so that I could lift up on the powerhead using my hoist and lifting eye, while keeping the mid-housing secured to the floor. I can get some pretty decent upward force applied to the powerhead with this setup.
Seems I read some years ago in a related post that a popular technique is to partially thread the nuts back onto the two short studs both forward and rear, and use a pry bar between the nuts and the exhaust housing to separate the two old friends. Seems reasonable, but if there are any pitfalls for the unwary newbie, I've learned this is the place to get informed of them. So I'm here to solicit the advice of all of you battle-hardened mechanics. What's the best way to make this powerhead part ways?
I took about a 5 ft. piece of 2x12 and bolted the bottom of the mid-housing to it, then slipped each end of the 2x12 under the extended legs of my hoist, so that I could lift up on the powerhead using my hoist and lifting eye, while keeping the mid-housing secured to the floor. I can get some pretty decent upward force applied to the powerhead with this setup.
Seems I read some years ago in a related post that a popular technique is to partially thread the nuts back onto the two short studs both forward and rear, and use a pry bar between the nuts and the exhaust housing to separate the two old friends. Seems reasonable, but if there are any pitfalls for the unwary newbie, I've learned this is the place to get informed of them. So I'm here to solicit the advice of all of you battle-hardened mechanics. What's the best way to make this powerhead part ways?