Ok, I know at least half of you guys are going to give me shit, but here goes anyway.
#1. Dont use Never Seize on anything that is not made of mild steel or cast iron, they also make a special formula for copper and brass, but is sucks, and is for extremely high temps.
#2. Dont use the "Allen keys", the little "L" shaped wrenches, first because you really can't get any torque on them without a "cheater" and second because they are frustrating as hell. Go and get yourself a descent quality (Proto, SK, Craftsman, or if your independantly wealthy Snap-On) of allen sockets, these have plenty of leverage and you can use them with a small pneumatic impact.
#3. When you have a bolt stuck in aluminum, especially stainless steel, there is a corrosion build up around the threads, you can turn that sucker until you turn blue, it's not coming off, stop, get a dead blow hammer (hard faced) and a brass drift punch and give it a few good smacks try again, if still a no-go, get the aluminum warm, but not hot enough to burn the paint (heat gun, Turbo Torch like used for soldering, or put the whole thing in the oven, but dont get it over about 350*F) then try again. Aluminum has a completely different expansion rate than steel, so this should work. If not you get to use a power tool.
#4. when its time to put it together, use the blue Locktite thread lock and sealer, but put a little dob on the end and at the head, this seals water out of the threaded area and prevents it from corroding. To remove, add a little heat and they will back right out.
#5. I always use the Red Loctite (high strength) when playing around with safety stuff like steering, a little harder to remove but good cheap insurance. Just remember to put it on both ends of the bolt.
Quik story;
I was a marine mechanic for over 15 years and would build at least 50-60 stern drives a year (OMC, Volvo, Mercruiser, Yamaha, etc.), I built one for a guy in the Salmon industry who had the drive rebuilt every year, he brought me his drive and it looked like it had been at the bottom of the ocean for twenty years, could hardly tell what it was.
So I tell him I have to do this thing on a T&M basis, and he was cool with it.
So i take about 10 hours to get this thing torn down, another half day to bead blast, sent to the powder coaters, installed and shimmed new bearings gears, and on and on, I give it back to him after two and a half weeks (he didn't think it was his) and told him to bring it back to me next year and I will go thru it for exactly half as much as I am charging you today, he just smiled, payed his tag and said deal....
He brought it back the next season lock clockwork and I had it done that night, that drive was torn down and clean in under two hours....I rebuilt that drive 14 times, he finally got a bigger boat...trust me this trick works every time.
