1993 Sport Nautique Maintenance Questions

Hello all, long time follower of the site but haven't posted a lot. I know this is the go-too place for any questions. I've owned a 1980 SN for several years that is in the resto mode at the moment but has been recently put on the back burner. I had the opportunity to purchase a 1993 Sport Nautique last summer from the original owner and couldn't pass it up. After a summer of fun on the water, I discovered several items that needed to be addressed. I have started the following and have a few questions: upgrading the steering cable and helm, replacing the strut bearing, replacing the fuel sending unit, and repacking the rudder packing gland. I have a few questions before I continue finishing up some of these items,

1. Is it ok to use something like carb cleaner to remove the dried grease on the rudder shaft and packing gland nut or do I need to use something a little less aggressive? Also, to clean up the prop shaft?

2. I pretty sure both packing glands still had the original rope packing in them, I'm upgrading it with the GFO packing. The rudder gland had 5 loops of packing and the shaft gland had 4. Do I need to replace with the same amount or can I use less rings?

3. How tight should the rudder packing gland be?

4. When I removed the safety set screw in the shaft hub, there was what looked like silicone on each of the screw's threads. Should I add some removable tread lock on these when I replace the hub? Also, the set screws on the set screws on the strut bearing as well?

Thanks for any help guys!
Jason