I heart this thread. Not advocating 5200 ideas but deinstall damage pales in comparison to years worth of water intrusion. The worst that can be done is not sealing at all... Appreciate all the ideas as I am hoping to repower really soon.

Read my post again. What I said was I let the 5200 dry, THEN hang the engine. That way you get the sealing of the 5200, without the headaches it you need to repower. Unless you damage the threads on a bolt, the stainless bolts will last longer than the boat usually. This is a one and done solution.

Ive seen the outer skin of a transom pulled off of a boat while trying to remove an engine that was installed with 5200, it destroyed a solid transom. 5200 stills cures and adheres for weeks after its installed. Life Caulk is rated for under water line use. You need a sealant, not an adhesive(5200)

Ok so I've kinda combined everyone's advice. Last night I used acid brushes and brushed a liberal amount of 5200 in the transom holes then applied a good coat on the bolt shanks and inserted the bolts through the transom. I also put a bead around the outside of the bolt holes and wiped it around the bolt real good. Sure enough today then babies are stuck in there good. Now I plan on doing a good bead of LifeCaulk around the bolts when I set the motor. I feel this should suffice.

Question about this 5200 stuff. Never used it before. I brushed it on last Thursday evening and inserted the bolts. Came out Sat. and hung the motor and the stuff was still wet. A little stick but still could wipe right off. It's now Tuesday and the stuff is still not dry. Is this normal? Seems to be more tacky then Sat. but still I can wipe it right off. Bought it from West Marine so I figure they have a pretty fresh stock.

Is it the regular 5200 or the 5200 fast cure? The fast cure usually takes about 2-3 days to harden. I've never used the regular so can't provide any info on it. As to Spareparts' comment about 5200 still hardening after weeks, that sounds like what you may be experiencing.

A quick comment about that by the way. If you use my method and you're still worried about an engine adhering to the boat... like anything else in this word, use the KISS principal. Instead of trying all kinds of different materials, methods, etc... just go into your kitchen pantry, get out the roll of plastic wrap that you use for sealing bowls of leftover food, take it to the boat, cut a roughly 3" x 3" square, punch a hole in the middle slightly smaller than the bolt diameter and slide it down over the bolt and up against the hull and any sealant that happens to be there. The (obvious) goal is to provide a thin membrane between the engine and the sealant when you hang the engine. That way when you remove the engine there's no chance of it being stuck to the sealant since it never touched the sealant in the first place. K.I.S.S. Keep It Simple Stupid :head:

Took 9 days for my last batch of 5200 to go off. The fast cure as stated 2 or 3 days....regular cure says 7 days on the caulk tube in ideal conditions.

Ive found it will kick a little faster if i mist it with water couple of times a day

It's not the fast cure. I find it crazy it's still wet. I've read somewhere else misting it with water helps so I'll try that. Hoping it will be all cured by this weekend cuz I'm itching to take this baby out.