Outdrive clear coat.

ericcarr2000

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Ok, I just got done pressure testing my bravo one drive, she held the 10 pounds of pressure for the 12 hours so I installed new orings between the upper & lower halves, sanded her down, primed her with 3 coats if self etching primer, painted her with 4 good coats of black appliance epoxy. I have a new set of bravo 1 stickers to put on her next. My question is what kind of a clear coat should I use after I put the stickers on it?
 

Woodonglass

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I'd use this...
image_9811.jpg


You do know that fuel will easily eat the Appliance epoxy off the surface of the motor. This Will help but not sure it's totally fuel resistant either.
 

Watermann

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I wouldn't use a clear coat on the OD. Not sure why you chose to use appliance paint on the OD? But you're going to need to wait awhile before use for all that paint and primer to dry. On my OD I shot one dusting of SE primer, one coat of regular primer and then 2 coats of tractor paint. More is not always better, especially with paint.

If that coat of clear starts coming off down the road you're going to be upset and that stuff is very difficult to apply to a surface with humps, bumps and holes like an OD.
 

Woodonglass

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This ^^^ is true but... LIke I said, the appliance epoxy will NOT stand up to any fuel or oil drips that may occur. The paint will bubble and peel if you don't protect it somehow. Sooo you can either clear coat it or...strip it and start over. Waterman's advice about the tractor paint with hardener is spot on. Once it cures NO clear coat is required It's high gloss and fuel and oil will not affect it. ;)

I guess you could do a quick scuff of the epoxy paint and shoot a couple of coats of the tractor paint over the top of it. Not sure if it's compatible or not. It might wrinkle. You could do a test spot to check it out.
 
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gm280

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There is always the option to use crystalized paints and clear coats that will laugh at fuel and oils...
 

Watermann

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To answer the other question... don't spray anything over the top of the decals, it will surely not stick to them and be a HUGE mess.

I bet that gear oil will wipe the smile off the clear coats face and replace it with some jaundice.
 
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ericcarr2000

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The reason I used the appliance epoxy is because I asked the question on here and there were different people that stated that that's what they used and it worked great, so I gave it a try...
 

ericcarr2000

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I wouldn't use a clear coat on the OD. Not sure why you chose to use appliance paint on the OD? But you're going to need to wait awhile before use for all that paint and primer to dry.
As far as having to wait, I'm assuming you're saying this because of the cold weather outside? This is no problem because I am doing this inside my barn with a heater literally up against it. The entire drive is warm to the touch so the cold is no problem. I've had the heater on it for almost a week nonstop now...
 

Watermann

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Temps yeah and the 7 coats counting the primer. Normally I don't wait for the first coat of paint to dry completely rather I give it a couple hours to set and then spray the top coat and I'm done. I just know that laying on several coats of paint takes forever to cure and will remain soft for quite a while no matter what the temp, that's why I say give it time before use. Is the drive on the craft or a stand for painting?

I didn't see your post on what paint to use for your OD, just saw the one about anodes.
 

jbcurt00

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As far as having to wait...........
The entire drive is warm to the touch so the cold is no problem. I've had the heater on it for almost a week nonstop now.
I don't know a whole bunch about appliance epoxy paint, but for most paint there's a difference between dry and cured. If you are mixing paint types you need to make sure you aren't putting a different type of paint over un-cured previous coats.

There is a re-coat window for most paints, but that typically only applies to additional coats of the same paint type, unless specified otherwise by the paint maker.

No idea how you should prep the epoxy to give any clear coat a good surface to bond to.

Once the epoxy is cured, I'd expect the clear to peel off, eventually. If it's not, as it does, the clear may peel more quickly.

The alphatic resin (some sort of epoxy) coatings we use at work have a 7+/-day hardened to cured (not unlike concrete) window depending on enviromental conditions. They are typically dry in about an hour. We usually apply 2 coats of colored and 2 coats of clear, and once we start the 1st coat of color, we have a 4-8hr window to apply the 2nd coat. Once that's dry to the touch we have another 2-6hr window to apply the 1st coat of clear, and then another 2-6hr window to apply the final coat. If we miss any of the recoat windows, we have to sand and prep the previous coat, possibly re-apply that coat and proceed with the rest.

Our's is UV stablized, perhaps that's why we have to call it Alphatic resin instead of epoxy. Acetone and MEK cleanup.

Good luck
 

ericcarr2000

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Hi Waterman, the drive is mounted on my engine stand. I just got done with the painting process and I thought that after I apply my stickers that I would see if a clear coat is necessary. I just picked up the boat this past year, only had it 11 months and im trying to maintain the drive so I can get a few more seasons out of it. I did pressure test it, prior to this and everything looked good, held 10 pounds for 12 hours or so. The gear lube I drained out of her was nice and blue as it should have been, no water intrusion.
Its going to be probably 4 more months before I can get her in the water again so cure time probably isn't going to be an issue, lol. Damn Michigan winters...
 

24 Albemarle

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Wet sand with 600 and clean with some alcohol (isopropol) or grease and wax remover dry then shoot clear it should be fine. Don't put anything on those vinyl decals as said above. They go on after all is cured, two or three days later.
 

Fun Times

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Just to throw it out there, here's how Merc's website say's to paint the drives even though it seems most don't follow this route as it's a challenge to do plus you have a lot of extra material when done.

Is there a factory authorized repainting procedure for my sterndrive?
Yes, MerCruiser has a refinishing procedure available. For best results we recommend this procedure be performed professionally.

Refinishing procedure:

This procedure should be used in refinishing MerCruiser sterndrives and transom plates. This procedure will provide the most durable paint system available in the field. The listed materials should be purchased from a local DITZLER AUTOMOTIVE finish supply outlet. The minimum packaged quantity of each material shown is sufficient to refinish several sterndrives and transom assemblies. Update: The supplies listed should now be available through an PPG automotive paint store. You might be able to find supply stores on PPG's website.

1 QT. DX-533 Alumiprep #33 metal preparation
1 QT. DX-503 Alodine #1201 conversion coating
1 QT. DP-40 Non sanding Epoxy Primer zinc chromate primer
1 QT. DP-401 Catalyst for DP-40
1 QT. DAR-9000 Acrylic Enamel-black topcoat
1 Pt. DXR-80 Delthane Ultra-additive for acrylic enamel
1 QT. DTR-602 Acrylic Enamel Reducer-temperature range 70-90 degree F.

PROCEDURE:

1. Scuff sand to remove all blistered paint and roughen factory finish. Remove sanding dust.
2. Follow manufacturer's recommendations and instructions on the individual containers.
3. Apply DX-533 (Alumiprep #33) to clean and condition the aluminum.
4. Apply DX-503 (Alodine #1201) brush on chemical conversion coating for aluminum.
5. The DP-40 (Epoxy Chromate Primer) mixed with DP-401 Catalyst can now be applied. A .75 mil film build is recommended.
NOTE: Allow 30 minute induction period for permeation of the epoxy chromate primer and the catalyst prior to application.
6. The topcoat consists of DAR-9000 Acrylic Enamel Black and the DXR-80 Delthane Ultra additive, and DTR-602 Reducer. It is a polyurethane acrylic enamel system which provides fast drying, durability, high resistance to corrosion and good color and gloss retention.
7. The type of spray gun used will determine the proper reduction ratio 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.
NOTE: DO NOT PAINT SACRIFICIAL ANODES.

NOTE: SeaCore models repair in the same fashion.
http://forums.iboats.com/forum/boat...ll-repair/392346-mercruiser-outdrive-painting
No clear coat listed and normally it's not used on the drives but should you decide to use clear coat, Mercury offers a good quality clear coat too. Mercury part number 92-802878-53.
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro...0.H0.X92-802878+53&_nkw=92-802878+53&_sacat=0
 

ericcarr2000

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Well what I've decided to do is since I already have the paint applied, I'm gonna wait a few days yo let it cure better, then shoot a couple coats of clear acrylic over it and see how that gets me this season.
 
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Watermann

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Sounds like a plan eric, it should be just fine. Post up a pic of the bravo once you have it all done and the decals on.
 

ericcarr2000

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Here's the pretty much finished product. All minor bumps and such things like that covered up. I did in fact put the stickers on and them shot a couple coats of the clear coat over them and so far everything seems ok. Like I said before I'm pretty much only trying to get another couple seasons out of her is all.
 

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ericcarr2000

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No problem. All I'm waiting for is my skeg replacement to get here, I ordered the thing about 2 weeks ago..
 
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