Upper Housing Cap Paint Question

[76SeaRay]

Do the mating surfaces of the upper housing and the upper housing cap normally get painted to prevent corrosion or are they sealed enough when assembled to keep water out? I know there is an O Ring that keeps water out of the inside of the drive housing but since I am repainting the whole sterndrive assemblies, I want to make sure I get the mating surfaces protected if needed. Also, is it normal to paint the upper housing with the cap assembled to housing if the mating surfaces don't need to be painted.

 

[76SeaRay]

Ready to spray paint this morning. Anyone know if these need to be painted on the mating surfaces or if painting would be a build up that doesn't allow the cap to go down as tight as it should leaving a gap on the bearing to race fit?

Thanks...

 

[Scott Danforth]

I would use the gasket as a guide.

I normally coat all mate surfaces with permatex #3 to provide corrosion protection

 

[76SeaRay]

Thanks, I shot the upper housing yesterday and forgot to mask the cap before I started shooting so have overspray on the mating surfaces. I have a couple of areas with runs in the DP90 and will sand those a bit. I will sand the mating surfaces again and mask them just short of the outside edges since I have to re-shoot some of those areas. I wanted to get the 2K high build on them today but I am waiting 24 hours before going over the DP90 so with a bit of spot re-shoot to do, I won't get the 2K on until tomorrow.

 

[Rick Stephens]

I'd paint it. There is no gasket, just an o-ring up there.

 

[76SeaRay]

Thanks. Painted with epoxy primer followed by 2K high build. When I initially oversprayed a bit I found that some of the overspray was making the cap really tight which could cause the epoxy primer to "bond" the cap to the housing. I sanded it back off and then painted it with the cap bolted on. However, I put very thin spacers under the cap so that the paint would "overspray" under the cap about 1/8th inch on the cap and the top of the housing. The rest I will put light sealant on when I assemble it along with the o ring.