Im going to seal my upper, need advice

I plan to seal my upper drive in a 1984 stringer. The boat has a 3.8v6, and I believe the outdrive is a 800 series. I have done a lot of reading on here, and other places, and I believe I can re-seal it, but I need to know a few things. I want to know what parts I need to buy. I plan to buy the seal kit for the outdrive, but does it come with all the seals? The water pump seals seem to be a problem in this outdrive, do they come with the kit? It doesn't need a pump, but I'm not opposed to putting one in if suggested. Also what should I look for while I have it apart, and are there any supprises I should watch for during disassembly? I have the clymer manual, which I know isn't the best one to have, but has anyone used one with any success? Is there anything else you would suggest replacing while I have it off? I'm really excited to get into this project, I love a challenge. Any and all imput is welcome.

Thanks
James

my advice would be to pressure test it first and see where it is leaking. Also check lateral movement of upper gearcase within the exhaust housing before disassembling anything (pry it up and down with a screwdriver). Would be a shame to do all that work and find out it still leaks because it isn't shimmed properly The top oring seal for the exhaust cover won't keep water out if the upper floats up and down too much - only the factory OMC manual discusses how to shim it - Clymer says nothing as far as I know...
Clymer is good to line the birdcage
pressure test will also make sure the housing isn't cracked... don't want to put a bunch of new seals in a cracked housing.
I just tossed an upper housing I thought was good -had a hairline crack extending from the water pump housing area. Usually when people store these drives tilted over the winter, ice breaks the water pump aluminum housing, but on this one it also cracked the gearcase

all required seals come in the seal kit.

Where do I get the factory manual? I need more detailed instructions on the shimming, so that I can check it before I remove the drive. Yeah, it will suck if the upper isn't any good. I thought I was getting a "deal", but I'm really thinking I didn't now. It looks nice, runs great, but the water getting in the outdrive is a very dissapointing discovery. How much pressure do I need to use to pressure test? I have made one using a blood pressure cup and a fitting. Do I need to use the top hole? I havent found a fitting for it yet, but got one for the bottom hole.

10 psi is plenty, but it should be vacuum tested too. use the bottom hole. reason for vacuum test- when you cruise the drive gets hot. When you stop, it cools down inside and creates a vacuum - and now it's underwater. so it pulls water in
don't overlook the plug gaskets. that can confuse... a drive keeps passing press and vac tests but takes on water = plug gaskets
I think Chief mentioned Home Depot having them in the hardware section in those bins.
I have this set - not cheap but have been serving me over a decade:

trucourse steering shaft seal is a common leak point as well as the exhaust cover o-ring (shimming)
eBay best for factory manuals

I believe I checked the movement of the exhaust housing correctly, and there is a bunch of movement. Is this the right place to check? I bet there is over 1/16 of an inch movement. Could that be a problem? I also forgot to mention, I had oily water seeping out of the piss hole by the water intake on the lower, but have not had any water in the oil in the lower, so could this be the problem?

I think you are on to your problem! should only be about 15 thousands of an inch movement. -just enough clearance so the steering doesn't bind.
The oil you see leaking out that "piss hole" is coming from the upper gearcase - it collects in the exhaust housing and seeps out there. Good troubleshooting.

So what is my next move? Can you find me a link to the correct manual that will teach me to shim it? I looked on ebay, and it seems like there are a lot of different ones. I know I need to do a leakdown and vacuum test, but from your experiences, is this common with the shimming problem? The shops in my area just turn their heads when I go to them. I was planning to have someone work in the outdrive for me, but no one seems interested in making money. It's honestly very frustrating.