Re: Going to Paint Your Outdrive? - Read This First
I have always used RustOlem on my own personal drives. May take longer to dry, but it sure lasts better than any of the other rattle-can paints. Readily available, and inexpensive. Gloss black when I had a Mercruiser, Smoke gray for Volvo.
In Merc's service manual for the Alpha I Gen II drives there are procedures outlined for painting the drives to factory specs (or close to it) if you are really into painting by the book, here is a copy and paste from the service manual.
The following procedure should be used in refinishing gear housings. This procedure will
provide the most durable paint system available in the field. The materials recommended
are of high quality and approximate marine requirements. The following procedure will
provide a repaint job that compares with a properly applied factory paint finish. It is
recommended that the listed materials be purchased from a local Ditzler Automotive Finish
Supply Outlet. The minimum package quantity of each material shown is sufficient to
refinish several gear housings.
Procedure:
1. Wash gear housing with a muriatic acid base cleaner to remove any type of marine
growth, and rinse with water, if necessary.
2. Wash gear housing with soap and water, then rinse.
3. Sand blistered area with 3M 180 grit sandpaper or P180 Gold Film Disc to remove paint
blisters only. Feather edge all broken paint edges.
4. Clean gear housing thoroughly with (DX-330) wax and grease remover.
5. Spot repair surfaces where bare metal is exposed with (DX-503) alodine treatment.
IMPORTANT: Do not use any type of aerosol spray paints as the paint will not properly
adhere to the surface nor will the coating be sufficiently thick to resist future paint
blistering.
6. Mix epoxy chromate primer (DP-40) with equal part catalyst (DP-401) per
manufacturers instructions, allowing proper induction period for permeation of the
epoxy primer and catalyst.
IMPORTANT: Do not paint sacrificial zinc trim tab or zinc anode.
7. Cut out a cardboard ?plug? for trim pump pocket to keep paint off of mating surface to
maintain good continuity circuitry between trim tab and gear housing.
8. Allow a minimum of one hour drying time and no more than one week before top coating
assemblies.
9. Use Ditzler Urethane DU9000 for Mercury Black and DU33414M for Sea Ray White.
Catalyze the colors with Ditzler DU5 catalyst mixed 1:1 ratio. Reduce with solvents per
Ditzler label.
CAUTION
Be sure to comply with instructions on the label for ventilation and respirators.
Using a spray gun, apply one half to one mil even thickness. Let dry, flash off for
five minutes and apply another even coat of one half to one mil film thickness. This
urethane paint will dry to the touch in a matter of hours, but will remain sensitive
to scratches and abrasions for a few days.
10. The type of spray gun used will determine the proper reduction ratio of the paint.
