I just had my upper and lower unit tore down and inspected (Bravo 1). After I received it back from the marina I noticed that there was some play in the prop shaft about a 1/16 in and out and when the shaft is pushed in there is some play side to side. Should there be any?

NO! The propshaft bearings are preloaded to take up any play in the shaft. I would march that thing right back to the Mechanic and stand there while he fixes it. Unless the wrench that put it together can remember that he didnt set the preload properly. I would question the assembly proceedure. If he wants to just tighten the nut that holds the whole thing together, I would suggest he tear it back down and do it right. Although it may be ok to just tighen it to specs, you dont know what else he forgot, if he forgot the most important step. I am sure you paid good money to have it done right, tell him you want to watch as he corrects his mistake.
I hope this helps.
Dick

Thanks Dick for the info. The mechanic said that there should be 1/16" to 1/8" in and out play and .030" side to side. When I spoke to him today he informed me that all you have to do is put all the pieces back in and tighten the nut down. He also mentioned that when it is tight is when you will have problems. How is the preload set on the Bravo 1's? This is a licensed Mercury mechanic that is working on this.

You have got to be kidding! .030 side to side play. Damn, just take your prop and throw it overboard.
The preload is set 1 of 2 ways, depending on yr. My '99's use a crush ring. Use a retaining wrench that turns the large nut behind the prop until the required turning torque is acheived on the propshaft. Older yrs use shims. BTW, I had to use a 3' cheater bar to turn and tighting the retainer nut. That tells you the amount of force needed to set the propshaft preload.

Find a different mechanic!

Mike, what US1 said!!!

Find another mechanic - FAST

Oh, tell his boss too

US1 Fountain,
Yes I know on the .030". My numbers are showing me for the side to side play not to exceed .007" and if it does replace the bearings or properly adjust the preload which is what I feel it is. The scary part is these guy's are suppose to know what they are doing, that is what they get paid for.
You know good help is hard to find any more. The torque specs for the cover nut is showing 210 ft-lb. My drive is a 1998.

Mbaam,
They are not getting off that easy.

Be absolutely sure yours has the shim then instead of the crush ring if you decide to just torque to 210. You don't just tighten it down to 210 if yours does have the crush ring. It takes an inch pd torque meter to set. We are only 1 yr apart, that is why I question your spec, which leads me to think you are assuming yours is shimmed. I realize you already paid for the rebuild, but at this point with your mechanics above statement, you need to pursue this abit more before you let him back on it.
Good Luck

.007 is allowable run out due to a bent shaft, not play. Big difference. There is .000 play as the bearings run in a pre-loaded condition. This means once zero clearance is reached an additional "squeeze" is applied.

As US1 says, the amount of this squeeze is determined by shimming in the early drive, and by the use of a non-reusable crush washer in the later drives to locate the propshaft bearing carrier. The amount of preload is NOT determined by how much the bearing carrier cover nut is tightened.

Mike,
What they are saying is you need to tighen the nut until you get the proper squeeze resulting in the proper preload. It is measured with a rolling dial type in/lbs torque meter. The older bravo's used shims to determine the proper distance you could squeeze the whole mess. Now a days a crush sleeve is used to squeeze once and if you go too far, well another crush sleeve. I cheat sometimes and use a .010" shim to get one more use out of the crush sleeve. Your drive came stock with a crush sleeve and your highly educated mech would not go to the trouble of shimming it properly. Who knows, he probably reused the crushed crush sleeve??

Bail on this guy and find a new mechanic to work your drive. If he made this mistake and owns up to it as "proper setup" I would have the whole drive gone through again. If you want to know more about how it is done, so you can ask the right questions, give me a call, I can give you some direction or explain what you might not understand.

Dick
616-335-8446