Bought my Z-33 crossbow out of a lake in texas , when it arrived the outdrives looked brand new, the first season I used it I kept it in the water (salt)for the whole season ,this year I bought the airdock system you see in the mags ,works great keeps the boat high and dry and clean, problem is now the outdrives look like **** when the boat is up and out of the water, question is ,How do I resore them back to new looking condition , do i need new housings or are there ways to repaint them ,the boat is coming out of the water in the next few weeks and i'd like to fix them up before next season, any advice???

grind and paint!!!!!!!!

scrape off all the old sea crap, remove al teh old paint and repaint them . i am sure somebody else will chime in with exactly what paint to use and the best procedure for painting them.

Thanks Puder ,Had a feeling a total stip down to metal was the only solution,short of buying new housings,anybody know of a company or shop that does that kind of thing ,be nice to just ship them out and get them back by spring looking like new ,complete with decals and all !!

actually how bad are they?

have you tried easy off? if its just funky nasty growth maybe that stuff with work. If the paint itself is damaged (from barnacles) you prolly will need to strip it down.

you might try a local body shop. Tell them its aluminum. Search the tech archives i am pretty sure there are a few threads about painting outdrives.

Have you tried cleaning them? I can't believe that after one season you have to paint your drives. My boat is in the water for the fourth season and there is nothing to paint. O.K. at the end of season I have to rub my Drive but thats it. I don't use antifoul at the drive. My boat works in the baltic sea that isn't salty like your ocean but I can't believe you have to paint.

If the paint has been fractured and salt has eatin into the metal.. you should abrasive blast and then paint with two part epoxy primer.. then paint with enamel or epoxy paint..
Dont do this without proper safety equipment. Resperators, etc..

Good luck

Dick

Montauk Crossbow

While you're doing the winter thing, yank the drives off the boat, clean, and sand away the old paint, and debris, and take them to a local shop and have them painted with Imron. There are plenty shops on the Island that will do this for you. They'll last for years like this. Just make sure when you put the boat up onto your hydro hoist to a) rinse them off real good with fresh water, and I used to hit them with some CRC or WD-40

Thanks for all the great responses ,I really think these drives are beyond cleaning, I like the idea of doing the prep work and then have someone spray them with Imron, Any leads as to where to purchase the right decals after the paint is complete ??

Give Jim a call at Falcon---631 723 0794. He can clean 'em up and spray em with Imron for ya. He's got the decals too

Thanks Sean , forgot about Falcon , I stop by and check them out ,its been along time since I stopped in there , always liked going over there , makes you feel like a kid in a candy shop !!!