1985 15hp Mariner

[francodlr]

First of all thanks for any input. As the title reads, I have a 1985 15hp Mariner which i noticed was leaking gear oil from weep hole above oil vent plug. After removing lower unit to inspect I found the oil was coming from the shift shaft boot. The boot seems to be held in place by whats referred to as a bracket (in the mercury parts list) and a small screw. Problem is after removing screw i cannot remove bracket to replace boot, tried pulling and prying nothing seems to work. Is there a right way to remove this bracket to get to the boot???? Thanks in advance. (part number 8 on diagram)

 

[francodlr]

Cannot get hardly any tools in there... I can grab part of it with needle nose pliers,i start pulling and it seems like its attached to something, maybe im not pulling hard enough, dont want to break something else... diagram seems to show it just pops in?