It was really easy as roger said. I however I seperated the pump and the motor initially and took the pump apart. I was hoping I could salvage the motor but it was already ruined. The impeller was pretty dificult to remove but I was able to use a couple of oil filter wrenches to remove it at the end. Even so, with the motor bad I just bought a whole new motor/pump unit and put it in. The new motor does not come with a new power cord so make sure you keep the old one and take a photo of the wiring order on the motor and on the balboa panel. All in all, less than an hour job to remove the old and replace with the new without tinkering around with the old one like I did.
In regards to your other questions access is wide open but you might need a wobble extension to be able to get the nuts that hold the motor down off. The fittings were exactly the same since I used the exact same pump/motor assembly.
Thanks Roger. I will remove the fittings and do that.