Wow...that pic brings back memories!! My 255 Formula looked almost that good when I got it 5 years ago !! Your's looks amazing to be 30 + years old!!

And yep...that's your Power Steering Pump on the starboard motor...real easy to get to LOL !!

Yeah I noticed that. lol

I wish they had not lost the Tie-bar between the outdrives...

but clean and solid... not too many rough areas.

finally

for info

Ayuh,.... The gasket surface looks pretty rough, 'n the shift cable pocket looks like it had water in it, which means ya probably need a new shift cable,....

Most of it is from laying around. The Mounting surface looks worse with the flash, but I can clean that up pretty quickly.
The shift cable is totally unknown to me... I will have to look into the mechanics of it.

Ayuh,..... The lower shift cable has to be free movin', butter smooth,....

When it starts to drag, it'll kill the motor when shiftin' back to neutral,.....
When the inner core wears a groove in the outer casin', it will no longer have enough travel, 'n no amount of adjustin' will fix it,....

The lower cable has an expected service life of 'bout 5 to 8 years,....