Can I paint the drives while still on the boat? or is it worth it just taking them off? Also, if I were to take them off, do i NEED a drive stand and how hard is it to take them off. I have never taken them off before.

wask the off 18" aroud then cover the whole boat with plastic car cover from your auto paint jobber and have at it try nason blue label enamel thats what dollar marine paints all thier drives with and it holds up really well and is cheap. sand them with 220 grit then give em one medium wet coat of paint let it tack up for 15 mins and then give em a nice wet coat and they should look sweet.

Btw way when you mask them off i use 3/8 blue 3 m fine line tape and leave a little tail out so after you paint the second coat , wait about 15 mins and then pull the fine line tape before the paint get totally dry.

so only 2 coats is enough?

oen medium wet coat followed by a second nice wet coat the tack coat will keep the second coat from running. you don't want to much film thickness. use a slow reducer in the heat. good luck

I know that your question is about paint...

But what kind of drives are they?


Just curious.

art i have seen imron come of things in sheet, once you get a chip in it water will get under it corrode the alum then it will start coming off in sheets...doller marine has been building drives for years and has tried a lot of different products and like the results they got with nason blue label synthetic enamel and its 70% cheaper to buy than imron! plus if you chip it , it won't affect the surrounding areas. just touch of the lil chipped spot and your good 2 go

it's all going to chip and it will all corode ,in time.... myself , i use PPG DP40 epoxy/concept single stage sprayed wet on wet. allow the first coat of concept to taCk up 5 minutes or so and then 2 medium wet coats there after.

Why not paint the drives when you have them off for your annual preventative maintenance?