1976 70HP evinrude, water pump, idle, and tilt/trim problems

[Rapala#1]

nothing major but i would like some advise on these things i found on my motor, i put this up on iboats but no one replied, can someone here give me some advise.
first, i am replacing the water pump because you can see deep cracks in the rubber, i set it in the water and it would pump in neutral but not in forward or reverse, i already know how to replace it i was just saying that to give a full picture
also when i put it in gear it would be ok until i tried to give it gas then it just died. but it will speed up out of water?
next, how do i adjust the idle on it, its too high.
one last question, how do i replace the o rings in the tilt cylinders, i have the kit and the special wrench already, but i about broke the wrench trying to loosen the cap, am i missing something?
thanks for the help,
chris

[Barnacle Bill]

I can't help you with the T&T but maybe the rest of it. Sounds like you caught the impeller just in time. They should be replaced every 2 years. You may have some trash in your carbs causing that problem. If it were mine I would rebuild the carbs and the fuel pump. Its pretty easy to do and not very expensive. Finally you need to do a link & sync. You will need a manual to do it right as it must be done in certain steps. When you go thru the procedure you will set the timing, linkage, and carbs including idle.

[Rapala#1]

one other thing to mention, it does start up instantly from cold