Having to replace the bellows on a alpha 1 gen 1 and im unable to get the outdrive off. Put the gear in the forward position, 6 nuts, and the rams are off. It is stopped at one inch and wont come off. It will move a quarter of an inch and slides back to the one inch mark. I cut the u-joint bellow to check and its not rusted, the shift cable boot is the problem. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

is it possibly a counter rotating alpha 1 (twins?), in that case i believe the shifter has to be in reverse.

Also, the o-ring on the input shaft needs to squeeze through the gimbal bearing which can create some resistance.

Are you saying the shift cable boot is the problem? Not sure what you mean by that.

It's not counter rotating and the shifter boot split in half. Is it possible when I put it in gear it never engaged?

If it came out an inch the shifter should already be disengaged.

You can tell if it's in forward by turning the prop. It could be stuck in the gimbal bearing, or just corrosion on the studs. A trick I use alot is to place a lot is to place a 4x4 on top of the bell housing. Reconnect your trim cylinders and raise the drive. As the drive comes up the 4x4 will lodge between the drive shaft housing cap and the gimbal ring. Keep trimming up and the drive will come off.

tip drive up and look underneath. you will see the shift shoe and be able to tell if it is pointing forward or sideways. the shift boot has nothing to do with drive being tight. i pick drive up and put a 2x4 between drive and gimball below drive. start banging the drive down on the 2x4. should slowly work it's way out. the spline could be sticking in the coupler, or the shaft could be sticking in the bearing.

Thanks for all the ideas, I will try them all.