Curious, what goes into taking a XR lower apart? Say I wanted to pull it apart and look at the gears and the bearings. Not replace but look at.

Pulling it apart is the Easy Part
Putting it back together correctly, thats another story
Make sure you know all the torque spec's, etc...

Losta Merc tools...$
And don't go fixing anything thats not broken...

How many hours are on the lower? What power is in front of it? How heavy is the boat its pushing? Maybe a freshen up is in order. If you intentions are just to take a peak, you will need to reset the pre-load on the lower by crushing a new crush sleeve. A few new O-Rings will be needed as well. Along with a few secial tools from Merc.

I just wanted to take a peak before I put it up for sale. Doesn't sound like I am going to be doing that. The person I bought it from said 10 hrs and I never used it. Real clean so I just won't worry about it.

I understand what you mean, A bunch of us went in and bought all the tools from Merc. so we could take a look at our drives each year. I am glad I have a couple times, found pitted gears and bearings about to go. Saved me alot money in the long run. I believe in preventive maintaince. The idea if it ain't broke doesn't always fly.
I tow in alot of people that say that and I would rather find it in the winter than the middle of summer on a poker run.
If any doubt , pay the money and see for yourself.

Where did you get the Merc tools from? And once you have those tools, how hard is it to disassemble and reassemble? I have a lot of experience working on boats, just never done drives.
-Tom

I got my Merc special tools from BAM Marine and the service manuals from Mr Gadgets.