Yea, kinda like open vs through hub exhaust!

No, what I mean is that I can't picture the finish on a speedmaster. I know that some of the outboards are silver, but I think it's a painted finish, not a cast one. I don't know what the finish is on the stern drives.

The SSM series is cast aluminum. They dont paint or polish it.
Just Imron the whole drive the same color as the boat or graphics. It will look fast anyway. I doubt there's any noticable difference under 100mph.
What ever you do; Dont add a nosecone and paint the bottom silver to look like a speedmaster. Kind of like putting SSM VI stickers on an alpha.
Gary

I had my drive stripped and re painted this season. It is shiney black and looks great. A couple of years ago I sanded my hull running surface and using the radar gun didn't notice any changes from the smooth surface. There is more running area on the hull than on the drive so I am assuming the same results would apply. Even if it made a .5 or 1 MPH gain I think the shiney clean black outdrive would still get my vote. These tests were done on a 90 MPH hull with a stalker gun to 1/10 MPH.

Gary-actually on this application I'm going to be running real close to a bill. I'm asking because I reprimed the lower unit due to a nasty gouge that appeared while it was at my dealer.

Cord #drives are sanded and left that way. Polished is slower but how much?? Will you notice?? Not likely I would say. I would prime and paint it. Problem with Primer is it is not a very good sealer to water penetration so you will have water getting under it and that is not good either. Go ahead and paint them up.

Jon

Somebody (uncle toys?) had polished lowers on their boat, and I thought they had told him that he'd be looking at a couple of mph.

Cord,
Paint them for a cool looking finish and you can touch up as needed. The polished aluminum lower units will last for about 20 minutes in the nasty water. They turn gray. Real pain to keep looking nice, even the satin finish is terrible. My Sportmasters and Speedmasters are satin and I use Scotch Brite pads to keep them looking somewhat reasonable.

How is the boat coming along?

I do have some silver, but it would need to be cleared. I'd hate to use it because the finish would be difficult to repair. Maybe I should just get a rattle can silver and shoot it. Wouldn't hurt as much the first time it got scratched.

Brad-it's coming, but slowly. Too slowly. I was hoping to hang the box tonight but I have some other things that'll require my attention first. After that it's, motor, accessories, wiring, fuel system, prop, hatch...