UPDATE-
I'm learning a helluva lot about my boat today. You guys have a wealth of knowledge.
So I got everything put back together, Filled the drive with oil, and tested it out. Reverse and neutral seem perfect, but Forward makes a clicking noise when I engage it like its not fully engaging
Not sure if that can be resolved by adjusting my now slightly shorter shift cable, or if I need to take the lower case off one more time and make sure the lower shift shaft is turned absolutely fully clockwise
I crawled under and looked up at the shift shoe with shifter in WOT forward. Its pointing almost straight forward but off by a few degrees
One more thing... If I put pressure on the shift shoe with my hand while turning the propeller it seems to engage the prop in forward more securely.
I'm going to search the manual for the lower shift cable adjustment procedure next, If i'm off track or missing something, please let me know.
Oh, and the amount of water the new impeller pumps is a night and day difference from the old, hopefully my overheating issues are resolved, Which was the original reason I got myself into this whole mess