Doug,
We have done most of what you are planning. We pulled the engine and had it rebuilt, but not tranny. Installed new sound down insulation, replaced hoses, painted with bilgecoat, had the shaft out and replaced the cutless, but did not replace shaft which I regret. The metric shaft is a problem now and I want to replace shaft and prop with inches instead of mm. The metric shaft taper is different from American tapers. They sell a bushing, but I dont want to go that route. Still noisy with engine on and I think the problem is the hatch seal. I plan on replacing seal and installing four dogs to push it down onto the seal. I think the boat had these originally, but not the kind that you can operate from above. While all this was going on I noted that it is impossible to remove the shaft unless motor or rudder is gone. Lee, with the Ben 381 says he can pull his without removing rudder...now I am wondering if I missed something.