Stuck IMCO lower
 

Hey guys, never in my life have I struggled so hard to get a lower off. I've taken 100s of drives off and this one is giving me a workout

Imco SC lower (-2) and an XR upper (teague platinum) I have a pair and the other came off no issue. 6 nuts off, no anode on these and no through bolt for that. Tried splitting with various chisels and tools but don't want to mark up either case. Tried bottle jack on the prop shaft to the upper, no luck there either. It's a stuck vertical / coupler

Any one have a hack?
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I don't have a hack but putting a jack on the prop shaft like that cannot be it. Better check you prop shaft run out after all this.

Would definitely not try any more with those jacks. Can you stack some washers between the housing and the nut here, so when you loosen the nut it forces them apart? Will need to do it on both sides and losses evenly.
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I would be surprised if it's a stuck coupler.
I like ryanw10's idea. There is a good chance the corrosion around the studs is the problem. A little PB Blaster and a heat gun in those areas might help. If you get it to move at all tighten it back up and have at it again. Might have to do that a number of times getting a little farther each time.

Update, still no progress unfortunately. I have it down about 1/4-3/8". I do believe a port side stud is seized in there, starboard studs allow some movement and I can "bend" the case a 1/16" before resistance of the stuck studs

Tried the nut + washer method mentioned above, unfortunately it is so stuck I disformed the nut and strip threads on the stud. Not a huge deal as they were somewhat mangled from previous attempts

Going to try heating it real good one last time before I cut the stud with an angle grinder. There's enough space to get a cutoff wheel in there, just gotta make sure I don't knick the case. Will be going through both upper and lower so I don't mind replacing a stud if necessary and will absolutely check the runout of the prop (I always do this anyway)

Final update, ended up cutting the stud. Got a little sloppy with pry tools before resorting and knocked both cases but nothing that can't be filed down. 2 studs were stuck but the cut one was the worst - just gotta drill out the rest and put a new stud in
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