Mike the Boilerman

Definitely not the drive plate then. With drive plate, the frequency rises with engine revs and disappears at some point as the revs rise.

Disagree. Arthur was simply stating a fact about living in a representative democracy. The system is, collectively we vote in politicians who pass the laws we want. Perhaps you are prevented from being on the electoral roll rather than choosing not to be.

Seconded!

In addition, the questions seeking more information in order to give better answers are sometimes interpreted as hostility, which most of the time is incorrect. Penetrating questions can however make people who have not thought about their plan in any depth, feel rather 'got at'. This is not intended.

Yes it is....

That's not an argument. That's just contradiction....

You missed post 28 then? Intended to do nothing but stir up conflict, in my opinion.

This is consistent with the drive plate falling to bits and supports my hypothesis. The engine does not rotate at a constant angular velocity and this is what causes the rattle at low revs. At higher revs there is more load to take up the backlash. Over-tightening the stern gland generates a higher load on the engine so to noise stops until the stern gland packing wears away a bit more. I agree 350 hours is low. Mine failed at 3,500 hours. Even so, the symptoms fit the diagnosis. Have you had a prop jam recently? These can easily bust a drive plate.

The drive plate is not part of the gearbox, and besides your D260 looks pretty beaten up so not much care appears to have been taken in its reconditioning. Up to you though. The symptoms you describe sound exactly like when my drive plate disintegrated. I too spent three months avoiding whipping the box off for a look before facing facts. The new drive plate was BLISS!!

Are you sure it wasn't just the huge chimney of the boat in front casting a shadow?

My money is on drive plate failure. It always is, and as removing the gearbox is necessary to find out, its the last thing anybody ever does!

One further point. Most exceptionally good deals turn out to be a mirage. This one is looking that way to me now given all the latest stuff you just found out. Walter Mitty character I reckon.

Once again, this doesn't stack up, there are LOADS of vacant flats on the market that can be rented in a day or two. My bet is he won't take one because a six month tenancy is the shortest you can get, and he won't sign up for that.

Yes this too. Except the flat too is fiction.

Y'know this is the bit that worries me most. It just doesn't stack up. If I were wealthy enough to be buying a plot of land and a bigger boat, as you suspect, needing to flog my old boat first would not be necessary. With all this new info now revealed I suspect his finances are either stretched to breaking point or, more likely, the new boat and bit of land are in no way a 'done deal'. I'm now inclined to think he is a dreamer and you are the first piece in the jigsaw of his plan, not the final. Especially given his refusal to let you talk to his seller. I think his seller will tell you all sorts of things that reveal the deal is not as initially presented to you. I hope I'm wrong.