well at this point get the new shaft in there. have one guy in the boat feed it slowly back down through the packing and have someone under the boat guide it through the brass holder and get that thing in place. then your ready for reassembly. do the oposite of everything you just did and your good to go. get out there and rip. hope this helps people and i'm sure i've left some stuff out so if there are any questions feel free to send me a message. just to give people and idea it took me and my friend around 6 hours to do it. so plan for that if not more. and also replace any rusty hose clamps with new ones. i had several that were in real bad shape. i got stainless steel ones from an auto parts store because they don't rust or corrode. they are more costly but well worth it for the fuel and water lines. Like i posted earlier this is super involved and can be difficult at times so please know your limits and if your not into getting this deep into a repair pay your dealer and hold them responsible for messing stuff up.