I attached a picture to show the part I am trying to remove. I was taking the 4 bolts off of the bottom of this section.
Yes it is a freshwater engine mostly. My uncle lived in NJ and was a lake guy, but near the end of his life had a place in sarasota and had the boat in brackish water at times. Most of the time in lakes.
I watched a couple of videos (all early 1960’s Evinrude Johnson) and watched at least 3 people remove the thing I am trying to remove – the water pump to access the impeller by opening the gap about the same width as I have and then removeing a screw. Then the whole lower end with the prop came off easily. One guy had to pry open the two brackets that were held by the screw they just removed and then the lower end came free.
But this morning, I tried the same procedure, and the was no give in that space in between the brackets.
