Thanks Mike. I have a few more questions to help me finish.
1. Do you suggest marine grease or anti-sieze compund for the new seal holder. Shop manual says marine grease but I want to use the best I can to prevent this from happening again.
2. Will I need any new o-rings or seals just to pull out the prop shaft holder assembly and put it back in? The shop manual doesnt show any non-reusable parts for pulling the assembly as a whole. I do not expect to have to tear apart this assembly, which looks to be a whole other level of complexity. Just pull it out, ensure no shavings/bits are in the case, and reinstall.
3. Here's a silly question that has been bugging me about not tearing apart the prop shaft assembly. If I happen to miss cleaning out a tiny aluminum shaving (from my drilling) and it eventually finds its way inbetween the gears and whatnot upon operating the motor, do you think it would hurt anything? My hope is no, that it would be too flimsy to damage the hearty gears in there. I cannot imagine they would but I wanted your opininon. Maybe you would suggest tearing apart the assembly to make sure? (I hope not I dont feel up to that job after all this).
I also read one of your posts from the archives saying not to pull this assembly out with the shift rod in place. Obviously mine is/will be already out when I pull the assembly.
4. Are there any other "dont's" that I should be aware of about this assembly, or how it mates up to the main drive shaft? Is there any synching of gears or matching up of match marks when putting the prop shaft assembly back in? Shop manual doesnt show any but its not exactly the the most detail oriented manual Ive worked with and I dont want to miss something important.
Thanks again. If you take contributions, let me know. My paypal account is standing by. You haved saved me so much time, stress, and billable shop hours. I really appreciate your replies