1985 e50belco driveshaft shim question.

SO I have the lower unit on the workbench waiting for water pump parts. Saw some oil from the shift shaft so I decided to go ahead and tear down and reseal it and check clutch dog condition etc.. My question is this: When I spin the driveshaft by hand I can hear and feel the gear teeth contacting each other. There is a small amount of up and down play in the driveshaft barely less than 1/16 - when I pull up and spin the driveshaft the noise disappears. everything is nice and smooth. Nothing is grinding and theres no metal shavings in the oil. Adding shims would only send the shaft farther into the case so that wouldnt fix it. I know the tolerances here are critical so Im not going to be doing anything until I get some feedback. What do yall think?

When the motor is running the driveshaft is pushed up.------------That is why it feels smooth when you pull up on the shaft.--------There is nothing wrong here !-------The pinion gear is set up with a shimming fixture .-----That shimming fixture uses the " mounting dimension " to put the pinion in the correct place.-------------Note---mounting dimension has nothing to do with " stallions and mares " in this case.

As posted the gears cut design pushes themselves apart(forget the design name)..Just use what you got and you will be good to go....

Excellent! Thats what I was hoping to hear. Thanks.