I have a 89 ski nautique. How often and how hard is it to do it yourself or do you need special tools?

Hmmmm, I think that's one of those things you never want to mess with.

There's a good article I found once before (scanned image). It had detailed instructions for aligning the engine with basic tools and a set of spark plug gapping tools. Let me see if I can find it - I know I printed it out and it's at the office.

Believe it or not, a simple test is to see how easily the prop spins by hand. This should be done while the strut bearing is wet, like after you pull the boat out of the water. <BR> <BR>I had the shaft aligned, it was slightly off, but the difference in the prop turning was very noticeable. <BR> <BR>My alignment was .005 off, it is supposed to be within .003. It cost over 100 bucks to do.