you should not need sealant.
the three types of fittings in the brake system are the bleeder which is a tapered seat, and the inverted flare nuts or crush washers in the lines. none need sealant.
no need for loctite or even rubber washers. a simple bolt thru the hole with some elastomeric marine sealant like boat caulk would suffice.
if the hole is small enough, just the elastomeric sealant
First, have the master cylinder low (as on the ground) when you bleed trailer brakes
Make sure both calipers are in working order
Never use Teflon tape on any hydraulic connection. Teflon tape is for water systems.
Haven't used the boat for a while .... Rain ever weekend, then hurricanes. Spent a few hours scrubbing Salt Shaker.
Next weekend, have to clean the cabin as lizards, Frigs, and humidity did their best to trash the boat
There are a half dozen styles of helms for cable steering
You will need to get under the dash and at a minimum take some pictures. Then look at the end of the cable for the cable part number and length which is hot stamped every foot
Inside the layers of FRP (the laminate schedule), where the cleats are, will most likely be 3/16" (5mm) thick aluminum plates
It's been common reinforcement practice for about 70 years
Easy to tell, just lightly drill up from the back side, between the cleat mounting holes.
Yes on the foam. You won't be owning the boat 45 years from now
Resin will come loose from the PVC, use fiberglass tube, or duplicate what was there
There may be aluminum plates in the laminate schedule where the cleats are
I'm going with multiple badd connections. Remove ever connection from the matter to the helm one at a time. Take 150 grit sand paper, and clean everything until it's shiny enough for your mother in law to eat off. Then seal that connection with a marine electrical varnish. Then move on to...
The only thing that fits that big OMC hole in the transom is another OMC of similar vintage
To switch to a Merc or other, you need to rebuild the transom and atringers
Chris Craft went thru 4 owners since 1996, with the latest being Winnebago.
There are no records at Chris Craft going back to 1996 per my buddy that works there
