I decided to pull the engine from the boat to work on it, rather than performing the work in the boat.  Since my garage has a heavy duty structure, I rigged up a 2,000 lb. chain hoist in the garage and backed the boat in far enough so that the engine was under the hoist.

The Engine hatch (aka the back seat & sun pad) had to be removed.  It weighed a lot and the chain hoist came in handy.

Next it was the process of disconnecting everything and un-fastening the engine mounts.  Once everything was disconnected the lifting chain was fastened to the engine and we were ready to go.

There was just enough clearance to raise the engine and then pull the boat out of the garage.  This was definitely a 2 person job, so my brother came over to help out.  He is a good wrench turner from way back.

I was happy to have the engine safely on the ground.  Also, here is a picture of the bilge after the engine was removed (below).  I even found some ‘missing’ parts and tools down there !!!  I can now refurbish the engine compartment/bilge while the engine is out.

Once the engine was out of the boat, it was time to remove the cylinder heads.