I have a 1986 19' Sunbird with a 4.3l v-6 Mercruiser with an Alpha one
sterndrive. When I launched her this spring I noticed water leaking in
around the transom plate I pulled her out and took her to the local
boat mechanic to have it fixed. He replaced the bellows took her for a
water test and found it was still leaking upon closer inspection of the
lower unit found that the anodic bolts(the two lower bolts with the
zinc heads) on the unit were loose.

He is telling me that to access the nuts on the inside of the boat to
torque these cannot be accessed without removing the engine, $700.00.
Is this true?

I've looked around the internet for someone talking about how to
replace the transom seal thinking that would give me a clue as to
whether or not these bolts/nuts can be removed with out removing the
engine.

Has anyone out there had a transom seal replaced by a mechanic without
having the engine removed?