"No problem, I’d absolutely leave the transmission in place unless I had to remove it. Obviously be sure to check belt condition and see how the trans turns without the bushings. Hopefully smooth. You’re right, most of the videos gloss over some steps that are required to have the whole make sense. Just go slow, take pictures, notes and / or look at the parts diagrams and you should be ok. It’s annoying, but gets easier the more times you do it. Sadly if you plan on keeping it for a while this probably won’t be the only time you have to do it. "
What I did previously was replace the belt and drive pulley. That worked really well for a cycle or two. Then I adjusted the drive cable, and I think it's pretty doggone tight. Concerning the free axle and transmission, I can't get a sense of if its hosed or not. I wouldn't call its rotation "free-wheeling" or anything like that. I've got no baseline other than today to compare to.
I think I screwed up somewhere in reassembly. It's also possible that the axle shrunk considerably. I'll give it a fresh look on Monday.
Unfortunately, though I didn't test during disassembly, I didn't see obvious corrosion. The axle looked pretty good. But I will confirm that the bushings certainly spin freely now.
We'll see where this all leads after reassembly.
Thanks,
Greg