I am working on my boat and going to blast the TRS drives and then fill in some pitting from corosion. I am curoius about the bottom skeg of the drives. It has a flair on the bottom of the skeg. Was that there for a reason or can I clean it up by sanding it completely smooth to the skeg?

I think they do that just to make it a little thicker/stronger instead of a thin edge....so when you forget to raise it coming out at the ramp!!

Typically, that is the sign of a replacement skeg. Odds are, when you sand it bare, you'll notice a weld somewhere. The replacement skegs, made by T/H Marine have that flat "flange" at the bottom that you mentioned. To answer your question, grind it all flat, etch prime the entire drive, fill any corrosion with Marine Tex, sand and fair it flat, prime it with Awlgrip 545 epoxy primer, and shoot it in Black enamel. Should last forever that way!

The skeg on my TRS has a edge on it with no flare. I have paint striped all the years of paint off the drive and my drive has had no welding so the skeg on mine is orginal..hope this helps.
Erik

Thanks

I appreciate the help.

They where made both with and without the flare on the bottom depending on what year. I am not sure where they canged. Perhaps Daredevil knows if he chimes in. I think he's a TRS guy? I groung mine off on my Scarab and put on skeg gards. I have alot of debris in the river I boat in and I would rather have the S/S on the leading edge. Be very careful when blasting, that s**t gets into everything.