I finally got the bastard on, flying solo. Onto the next snag!

You have issues Mik, I might know somebody that can help, you as long as you can accept that you have issues; his name is Bubba, tall dark and not so handsome, should be out of jail soon;)

congrats on the gear box install. maybe it happened cause there werent too many cooks in the garage?

and levey- eat his sandwhich

Dattos are too small for more than one person to work on anyway, unless you're working at opposite ends or sides. Most times I've removed and reinstalled the engine/gearbox I've done it alone, it's just about quicker that way than 2 people.

So was there an alignment issue or did you just wrestle it in? They need a good hard shake to get them to cooperate.

I ended up realigning. Not sure if it that was the problem - it still took a lot of wrestling.

I'd break down the stages as follows:

Nothing engaged > 20mm
Splines engaged (tailshaft no longer turns by hand) ~ 15mm
Shaft in pilot bushing, but engine dowels not in place ~ 5mm
Success - 0mm