Appreciate that, thank you very much.

the outside of the gimball bearing is a slice out of the middle of a sphere. Picture earth sliced at the tropic of cancer and capricorn. It is mounted in the same shape so it can swivel to align with the coupler splines. This is also dependant on the rear mount the flywheel cover (with engine attached to it) sits on being at the correct height. The G-bearing can be tight-it is not a loose fit-and pointed the wrong way, and it won't just slide straight cuz you put an align tool in there.

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Ok, I gotcha. So do you think it would be prident to try starting the motor with the alignment tool installed? It wouldnt damage the bearing if its out of alignment? I would guess for the short time its run it wouldnt?

I let it catch and shut off immediately.

you mean let if at least fire then shut it off? I could just pull the coil wire and crank it or do you think the velocity and centrifugal force from the motor actually running for that short time would help the cause...

The other thing I'm wondering is, how comon is it for the aft mounts to need replacement? One on the PT motor thats easy to see looks iffy... Is this the correct kit?

last picture, looks like the housing is cracked ?............the new bushing kits I bought did not require the spring, said throw them away, guess it depends on the kit

Thanks for looking at those closely, I thought the same thing but its just a strange blemish in the powdercoating. Good to know about the springs. Guess I'll see whats in there when I pull the motor; not that that is going to be how it "should" be assembled.. I wouldnt know if it needs the spring or not...I went ahead and did what dereknkathy suggested but before I did the merc procedure with inserting the alignment tool and giving it a wack with a synthetic hammer every 90 degrees; no difference in the alignment. I ran the motor with the tool installed too for a couple seconds; no difference.. Looks like its the coupler..

The bushings do fail over time,

these are the kits I bought, they press out the bottom and are a pain to get out

OEM Mercruiser Bravo Bellhousing Bushing HD Rear Engine Mount 865330a02 | eBay