Painting my outboard

boater1234

Master Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Jan 6, 2010
Messages
869
So i decided to paint my outboard due to the previous owner trying and failing horribly.The paint on the whole outboard is in fairly good shape it's more the lower and upper cowling that looks horrible and looks like it was just sprayed like crap.I have painted one merc before and it came out really good after redoing it several times because i was under the impression more paint is better and i quickly learned that is a no,no.So here are the steps i am going to do to my 1993 20hp 2stroke mercury outboard.

1- Degrease everything i'm going to paint extremely good with like a great marine degreaser like the 3 bottles of attwood orange degreaser i bought unless someone has something i can buy at like home depot or lowes that is better.Would dawn soap work well to????

2- Spray with water and start wet sanding till i get all the imperfections out,now if i have some deep scratches do i go all the way to the metal if needed and then cover bare metal with the ZC primer i have and then i'm good to paint after that?If i can avoid hitting the metal that is my goal as i want to just rough it all up and then paint it.

3- Once roughed up or i sand all the imperfections and ZC all the bare metal,i'm going to clean with acetone then paint 2 thin coats,let it dry for i would guess till it's not tacky anymore which would be like an hr to 2 at the most,wet sand out any imperfections,clean with acetone a second time,then recoat 2 more times,let it dry and check how it comes out.If i see some things i don't like on the finish coat,how long do i have to wait to wet sand again and then recoat again to a glossy finish?????

4-Please if anyone has any suggestions on top of what i said here please help,i can use all the help i can get.This is how i did my 15hp merc i had yrs ago and it came out cherry.I mean it came out better looking than the factory finish. maybe someone has a different type of paint than the phantom black i'm going to use that is stronger.Also what do i need to do if i hit the white on the cowling,what type of primer do i need if any?I know krylon makes a primer and paint in one as well as rustoleum makes a primer paint in one.If i decide to stay with the phantom black which i love to use and have like 5 cans,all i need is what primer on the cowling,like will the ZC work or just a good old regular self etching primer on the cowling since it's not metal and i believe it's composite or some type of strong plastic.
 

ondarvr

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Apr 6, 2005
Messages
11,527
Don't try to sand the scratches out, use a high build primer or putty to fill them so you don't need to remove as much material.
 

boater1234

Master Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Jan 6, 2010
Messages
869
I used epoxy paste when filling in holes on a anti ventilation plate from a dolphin that was bolted through it and it came out superb. It was I think pc11 marine epoxy and it is sandable and strong,good idea,never thought of that. The scratches are not like gashes or anything,just a bit worse than a normal scratch,you still think I should fill it with the paste? I used that stuff on my cowling were some bad gashes were and it worked awesome. How about best way to take decals off,will the fl sun in the dead heat of summer be enough to peel them off?
 
Last edited:

Scott Danforth

Grumpy Vintage Moderator still playing with boats
Staff member
Joined
Jul 23, 2011
Messages
47,309
Mercury Phantom Black is simplyPPG 9000 black.

agreed, dont sand out scratches, use either high-build primer or spot putty.

rustoleum has crappy spray tips

Krylon isnt much better

if you want a great and shiney paint job, it will not come from a rattle can.
 

ondarvr

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Apr 6, 2005
Messages
11,527
Don't use epoxy putty to fill the scratches, it'll be much harder than the surrounding paint and make it difficult sand out correctly
 

boater1234

Master Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Jan 6, 2010
Messages
869
No Title

Once i start sanding i will see how bad the scratches really are,they might not be that bad at all.If i hit the metal but the scratches are completely gone i will just blow some ZC over it and spray away,that is what i did before on my last outboard i sprayed and it came out cherry.

Scott i'm sorry but i beg to differ on the you can't get a nice shiny finish with rattle can paint because i did a whole 15hp merc and it looked better than the factory job.The guy i sold it to couldn't believe how nice it was and i had never painted one second of anything before i did that so it can be done with patience,my thing here is if someone can give me something a bit better than what i originally did like in the prep i'm all ears.Like i said i don't really know how into the paint the scratches are yet so i can't judge that yet.

Here is the merc i painted from top to borttom and you tell me if you think it's nice and shiny glossy,i personally think it came out great for never painting before.I learned as i went along.I sanded 90% of this 15hp to bare metal,ZC the whole thing and 4 total coats of paint not to thin but not to thick eitherwhen finished and wet sanded in between all the coats.I also did the cowling and decals all was my first time.Allot of hand sanding,many man hrs,lol.
 

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