Jammed pilot shaft

"I picked up a 1961 18 hp John

"I picked up a 1961 18 hp Johnson last firday--
It became clear very soon that I was going to have a problem pivoting this motor--it seems as though the pilot shaft is frozen in the swivel bracket--I have the motor completely dismantled so I can work on the swivel bracket--
I had hoped that a lot of heat would solve the problem but heating it up only allows the bracket to move a fraction of an inch and once it cools off again, the whole thing seizes up--my plan is to take the unit to a machine shop and have them press the shaft out of the bracket but before I do that I wanted to get some other ideas, advise, opinions, etc, the rest of this motor is in sad shape also so I am assuming the there may be rust or other junk in the bracket--thanks in advance tom"

"My thought is to try heating

"My thought is to try heating the area below the top & above the bottom of the shaft with just enough heat that it may draw in some WD40 or other type of product like that. Kind of like sweating a copper fitting if you know what I mean. If you use to much heat it will just burn the oil off.
If the shaft is full of rust the oil could break it down if you can get it into the bushings.
I think that model has brass bushings but don't hold me to it. It's been a long time since I had one apart. They could be plastic so take care with the heat.
If there is brass bushings it should free up.

Also if you haven't, check that the adjustment screw for adding perssure to make it harder or easier to turn the motor has not been over tightened.

I had an old 9.5 this year that was about the same and after lots of oil & moving it back & forth it freed up. On the one I had someone had used the incorrect grease and the grease was hard as a rock. It took forever to clean the grease out using high powered carb cleaner.
That's another thing you can try using as well."

I resorted to an old trick I l

I resorted to an old trick I learned years ago--
soaked it kerosene--