repainting outdrives
 

Has anyone used the new marine por 15 ? After getting my outdrive to bare metal im looking for the best paint! thanks

Glad u asked, I need to do some painting as well. How did u strip them down? sand blasting?

Sand blast then powdercoat

Also when you have it down to bare metal what do you use to fill all the imperfections. I have heard some use Liquid Steel or Liquid Metal? I need to do my drives and tabs soon.

Personally, I would not powdercoat drives. A little chip will turn into bubbling very fast and then it will start chipping and peeling off badly.

fill the nicks with JB WELD and use zink chromate to prime..then a durable paint of your liking !

i had mine soda blasted. I didnt like the idea of one piece of sand were it didnt need to be. I also think powder coat in this case is way to thick. imo I have heard that the por 15 is unreal hard. I also heard the standard por didnt like the uv rays so they made a marine one. From the web site you dont have to prime but it will fill in the nicks really well? I think im going try it.

I had planned on using the Marine Trex grey to fill in any imperfections on my drives. It was recommended to me to smooth out the shotty nose cone installation that my boat had before I got it. I plan on priming with a high quality auto primer and painting with something like PPG concept.

I wouldn't bother buying what Merc sells, or listening to their tech advice when it comes to painting a drive. They like to sell their own products and the crap that they sell in the rattle can is junk. I think they use a high-tech elec. painting system from their factory, and we can't duplicate it in our garages (that I know of!).

I agree with Griff about powdercoating. That stuff likes to come off in sheets opposed to chips. I don't want my drive to be bare aluminum by the end of the season.

I just did my upper and my cav plate about a month ago with POR 15. Use the POR self etching primer on the bare aluminum, comes in a spray can. Make sure you get everything very smooth.

The coolest thing about the POR was that it is self leveling. I brushed it on, and thought "No way is that going to level out". The next day I checked it out and you could not tell it wasnt sprayed. It is smooth, incredibly hard stuff, and has a decent shine to it.

A couple bits of advice. If you are brushing it on, brush it on thick enough that it almost starts to run, dont worry about seeing the brush strokes, they will level out. DONT MESS WITH IT WHEN IT IS WET!! Brush it on and leave it alone. Use a good brush, you will be throwing it away when you are done. Dont get this stuff on your hands, it will be there for a long time.

Once you brush it on, leave it alone, I cant stress this enough. It will level out wonderfully.

Just did mine last week. Use Dad's stripper then glass bead then wash with soap and water then wipe with lauquer thinner and paint. If you dont have acess to glass bead or sand blast you can sand them down with 320 grit after you strip them. If they are pitted, you have to glass bead or sand blast, I used JB weld to fill a couple small spots. I like the Merc Phantom black. As far as spray paint goes, its the best stuff you will get out of a can IMO. Use good primer like the green zinc Moeller or possibly the Merc zinc primer - then paint the Merc Phantom black. Merc also has gloss clear drive paint now so I did about 4-5 coats of black than 2 coats of clear. Do it per the directions, do a coat every 5-10 minutes including the clear - it dries to the touch in about 10 minutes. DO NOT put a second coat on in more than 2 hours or less than 2 days, it will wrinkle - i did mine twice! Do the primer, wait 20 minutes then do a coat of paint or clear every 5-10 minutes till completion and you are done. It has a deep thick color and goes on pretty damn good. I am not all that crazy about powdercoat. My tabs were powder coated and bubbled up after less than 2 years.