www.iFourWinns.com

Hello,
at the end of this season I have to repaint my outdrive.
It's a OMC Cobra SX.

Does anyone has experience, which kind of primer and paint I should use?

I thought, my way can be as following:

- sanding down to the old primer
- applying a few coats of primer (Quicksilver rattle can primer)
- light sanding in between
- applying a few coats of spray paint (Quicksilver Phantom Black or BPR original OMC Spray Paint)
- applying clear coat.

The Outdrive was painted professionally by an automotive paintshop with two component epoxy paint but this stuff stand just one season and then it got blisters everywhere.
I measured the contact of the anodes, and they are working properly. So I am convinced that the paints are not really stable under water.

Now I want to save a bit of money and paint it by myself. I have some experiece in car painting, but I am not really sure, which paints are really water resistant.

It would be great, if someone can give me some recommendations.

Here is a great write-up (targeted for Mercruiser): [url]http://www.mercstuff.com/painting.htm
[/url]
I re-painted my Mercruiser outdrive last year. I had pretty good results with a shorter process (for a 30+ year old drive that I didn't want to fully take apart). Here was my process:
1. Degrease
2. Remove areas of corrosion with Dremel and sander (I had quite a bit)
3. Scuff entire surface with sandpaper
4. Clean again
5. Clean with IPA. Mask transom, any attached anodes, hydraulic lines, fasteners, etc.
6. Prime any bare aluminum (I used this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002984MU0/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1)
7. 2 coats of paint. I used this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000B68V90/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

If my drive and boat were newer, I would probably have bit the bullet and gone with a more intensive process. This spring I did have to do some touch-up work on some areas that wore off (Primarily the Skeg). Personally I don't mind hitting a few spots each spring when I do my normal drive maintenance.

I failed to take a good before picture- but here is my drive with primer and completed:

_________________
-Andrew

1984 Four Winns 225 Sundowner
5.0L Mercruiser, Alpha 1

Thank you for your reply.

My idea was, to do the paintshop just one time.
The Boat is the full season in water, so I want to do the job with the right, water resistant paints.

At the moment I am making a test series of different primers on bare aluminium plates, to see, how stable the primers are under water.
I test also a rust-o-leum etch primer. Let's see what happens.

If you're looking for a finish that looks and lasts as well as the original, it's very unlikely you'll be able to achieve that at home with typical DIY tools & materials IMO. Andrew's results are about as close as you're likely to get (and his results are great!).

_________________


Mike
2005 Four Winns 230/240
VP 5.7GXi/DP
1998 F-150 XLT
Boat Pic

Do you have any experience, how long the DIY Version stays in good condition?

For my experience- I had to touch up a few spots after 1 season. I expect that I will have to hit a few wear areas each year during normal drive maintenance. The key for me was that instead of large areas of bare aluminum and corrosion, the wear areas showed no signs of corrosion (the anodes were keeping up). Touching up was basically a 10 minute job.

_________________
-Andrew

1984 Four Winns 225 Sundowner
5.0L Mercruiser, Alpha 1

One thing I like about my Vista is that it has a big swim platform which hides the fact that all I do is pressure wash the out drive and then hit it with some flat black Rust-Oleum every other year. Like my tech says, "who cares what it looks like when it is hidden".

_________________

Current Boat: 2000 Four Winns 298 Vista
Previous Boat: 2000 Carver 406MY

every season I take a wire brush to mine, zinc chromate prime then Volvo grey/silver paint. Its obviously a diy hack job compared to original or a pro doing it, but for $20 in materials and an hour work to keep the corrosion at bay on a 20 year old boat it works great for me. Mine stays in the water for 3 months and gets pretty gnarly by the end of the season.

_________________
Jon Miller
1998 four Winns Horizon H200
Volvo Penta 4.3 GL
Newtown, CT

untitled-545 by millerjont, on Flickr

Same here and for me the process is a bit different due to salt water mooring.
Scraping sanding wipe down with solvent. Then prime bare spots with 2 coats of Interlux Primocon, next brush on 3 coats of Interlux Trilux anti fouling paint. Spray is used only for inaccessible areas.
This is the yearly ritual for outdrives in salt water....

_________________
88 Four Winns 200 Horizon
4.3 OMC Cobra-4bbl
2002 Walker Bay 10/2012 Suzuki 2.5
2008 Walker Bay 8

1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0/Selectrac
2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7 Hemi/Quadradrive II

I'm sure you know this but wear a really good fume respirator (3m 6000) when spraying zinc chromate primer because it's pretty toxic.

_________________
88 Four Winns 200 Horizon
4.3 OMC Cobra-4bbl
2002 Walker Bay 10/2012 Suzuki 2.5
2008 Walker Bay 8

1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0/Selectrac
2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7 Hemi/Quadradrive II

Thanks Lou....aware of its toxicity, though admit to mostly holding my breath <<bad bad I realize) Will look into a proper respirator , think I at least have one I can borrow.

_________________
Jon Miller
1998 four Winns Horizon H200
Volvo Penta 4.3 GL
Newtown, CT

untitled-545 by millerjont, on Flickr

Does anybody know, what kind of paint is in the original BRP spray cans, which are available in OMC SX charcoal?

Is it a one component polyurethane or just a acrylic spray like the stuff for cars?
When you spray it, its a little bit thicker in comparison to the car paint.

I was told, that polyurethane should be the best choice for unterwater use, in comparison to other paints.


It would be great, if somebody can give me answer.

Painting a drive is much more about the prep & primer than about the paint.

_________________


Mike
2005 Four Winns 230/240
VP 5.7GXi/DP
1998 F-150 XLT
Boat Pic

Yes, I know.
But, at the end of the work, the paint should be strong enough to stick more than one season on the outdrive underwater.