When checking backlash on Mercruisers, an old trick was to apply pressure to the shift mechanism in such a way that the gear in question and the clutch dog purposely didn’t engage the ramps fully. In other words, you’d hold pressure on the shift with the clutch ramps touching each other at the top. This would lightly “lock” the gear from turning. Then, you’d pull up on the drive shaft and lightly rock it back and forth, and check the lash. It seems like you could use that method on the Scott case, but just pull out on the prop shaft and rock it, instead.
Long live American manufacturing!
