Mercruiser 120 I/O-- Cam Chain cover question

[klaucke]

Hi guys, I've got a leak on my cam chain cover. My engine/outdrive is a 120hp MerCruiser Alpha 1, circa 1985. I was wondering if anyone knew if replacing the cover involves removing the oil pan. The MerCruiser manual I have says to remove to oil pan first, then the cam chain cover, but it looks like you might not need to remove the oil pan. I find sometimes manuals like that assume that if you are removing the cam chain cover, then you will be servicing the cam chain, etc, and hence removing the oil pan would be helpful to work on those deeper parts of the engine-- but perhaps this is unnecessary for just replacing the cam chain cover.

If I do have to remove the oil pan, I'll instead consider patching the pin hole, so I don't have to open a potential can of worms. If the oil pan doesn't need to be removed, I'll just replace the cover w/ a new one. I need to get this done soon, though, so my boat can be usable again.

Thanks in advance.