LOL, yeah, I got the "power head removal" terminology wrong, being in Scott Land. I should have said, "Do I have to remove the ‘power head support’?" I did that on my ’56, just the way you said. It’s pretty funky how the power head just kind of hangs out there in space with no leg under it. Anyway, you certainly answered my question!
I took a look last night. I think the shift DOES indeed, need adjusting. The center point between contact with the forward and reverse gears doesn’t match up with the center of the neutral detent above the shift handle. It definitely engages reverse much sooner. I will have to take some time to wrap my head around going further with this motor; but I will probably go ahead in after the problem. While it runs great and pumps like a champ without even touching the pumps, it’s not the best looking machine. It is missing the cover emblems of the 1958 type.
Long live American manufacturing!