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Well thanks to all for the advice on removing the motor. I did it!! It was an adventure though.

Bought an engine lift for $50 and a motor stand for $20. I can flip those as soon as I'm done with the rebuild. Sunday was spent removing the bolts to the motor and hooking it up to the lift. Made a mistake of not extending the boom all the way out which prevented me from positioning the motor stand in the right position. So, with the help of my trusty wife/assistant, I had her lower the engine to the ground resting on the skeg while I held the motor upright. She unhooked the motor from the lift and extended the boom far enough that the engine stand could be positioned correctly. Relifted the motor back up and was able to mount the motor to the stand.

Not adventure #2 starts. Thinking that all was set, I stepped back to admire the handy work and that's when the motor started to rotate on the motor stand. In all the excitement, I forgot to tighten the rotation screw on the stand. So in a panic, I was able to catch the motor after it had rotated 90 degrees, upright it again, and then have my wife tighten the set screw. I strapped it the motor to the stand to prevent rotation and that's where it is at this moment. Hope the kids don't play around the motor while I'm at work. ;)

Now on to the next phase... sanding. Any recommendations? Orbital sander vs angle grinder? Best methods for removing chipping paint? Also, how should I handle chipping paint on the parts of the floor that have the textured bumps? I assume sanding those areas removes the bumps as well?