I am going to remove my port motor in the morning, its a 1995 mercury 502 mag EFI. I see that my motor sits in a cradle like mount that is hard mounted to the boat hull. Can I just remove the bolts that hold the block down on the cradle, or do I have to remove the motor with the cradle attached to the motor. Thanks

its easier to remove the engine with the ceadle..motor mounts are 3 bolts per side and so should be the cradle..

Either way is fine, I usually leave the mount in the boat.

There are two types of these mounts. One is an offshore mount where the cradle is all one piece and attaches directly to the block, for those I always remove the mount with the engine. Can't imagine trying to put those bolts back in upside down and trying to line the engine up with them in the boat. The mount should attach to aluminum angle plates that are through mounted on the stringers. Do not remove the bolts from the stringers, just the bolts that connect the two plates.

The second style is a cradle that has tow large studs that would be found directly in the stringers of some boats. That style is two piece and still uses the standard engine mounts on the block that a non "offshore" boat would use. For that style leave the mount in place and remove the two large nuts to remove engine.

You were right. No way was I gonna remove the bolts from the block first. Since my motor is hard mounted to the stringers and the transom, do I need to do an alignment?

its good to check it and as long as toy dont mix the mounts up you should be rite on with the aleignment...you cant aleign it with out drilling new holes anyways..

Yes, don't mix the mounts up, many use different part numbers for right and left.