"some take some smashing prior to twisting"

there my dumb ass corrected it...u happy now

I didn't notice the grammer! I was laughing at the word smashing!
Pictured myself sitting in the bilge with a big hammer

smashing as in grip the chanel locks more ....come on i only use a hammer on trailers!!!

Stevel

An easy way to remove the rotor is to cut throught the top of it with a hacksaw, put a screwdriver in the slot give it a twist and the rotor will break in half easily. This allows removal without smaking the hell our to the distributor and everything in it. If you hit the rotor to hard you can bend the distributor snap ring and or bend the shaft.
Good luck

I had to remove the distributor and dissasemble. There are two screws underneath holding it down. We pulled and pried with no luck, then found the screws.

A minor point on rotor replacement that is in Merc Service Bulletin 83-24

In the step before using Loctite is says:

"Place a small amount of lubricant around the distributor shaft where it enters the busing. This will prevent any of the Loctite from getting into the bronze bushing."