Any trick to separating the lower on an alpha? Mine seems to be welded together. The drive is locked up. Could they be seized together by the drive shaft? Any suggestions?

did you take the bolt in the front out and the bolt under the anode?

I doubt it, I have seen them corroded at the dowels pretty badly though. You did get the bolt from under the trim tab anode right? PB Blaster is my favorite penetrating oil. Soak it over and over and heat if you have run out of patience soaking with oil.

Yes, I've pulled both the trim tab bolt and the nut behind the front anode anode. The front of the drive seems free but the rear is still tight. I'll try getting some oil between the upper and lower from the front gap and let it soak.

Thanks!

ok you pulled the bolt that holds the "trim tab" anode on, but did you look underneath after you pulled the anode? there is another bolt that comes up from underneath the anode and threads into the upper., I've never seen one get stuck in the back they always get stuck towards the front if anywhere. You don't want to shove a scewdriver or prybay inbetween them cuase you can screw up the housing real quick. You can take a deadblow hammer or a 2x4 and pry between the anti ventilation plate and the flange on the upper lightly be carefull though cuase you can break the anti ventilation plate. I hope that made sense.

I bet if you have all the hardware out and you can get any gap,at all if you soak it you will get good results. Ditto on what hillbilly said about prying at he flanges.......patience and not brute force is the way to deal with corrosion.

Hillbilly, it all made perfect sense, especially the part about the bolt UNDER the anode! I actually found it before your last reply, was working the drive over with a 2x4 when I saw it. It slipped apart perfectly once that was removed. Turns out the lower is fine, the upper is seized but there is no physical sign of damage. The gears look fine. Is a rebuild a do-it-yourself project (for a tinkerer) or is it best just to pick up a used upper?

You BEST be good at Tinkering

You need a few special tools and FACTORY manual to stand any chance of gettign it done on our own. I would really recommend finding an uper somewhere and makeing sure there is no metal in the lower, did anything break? or did it just lock up ?

Nothing broke that I can see, it just locked up. The upper is very clean, no chips or shavings. The lower is also clean. The oil is free of shavings as well. I'll probably just buy an upper.