need help....will it rust?

[greenwell001]

alpha 1 gen 2

i am replacing my impeller for the first time.....the gaskets were falling apart and the gasket between the impeller plate and lower unit was stuck to the lower unit...after scraping and gouging to get it off i got down to the base metal...i went ahead and scraped off all of the paint were the gasket goes and then sanded the area lightly to remove all of the paint left so i would have a nice flat surface to place the gasket on so i would be sure it wouldnt leak...should i repaint the surface before installing the gasket or just put the gasket on and go ahead with the impeller install? i am afraid that it might rust

[JustJason]

aluminum doesn't rust.

But you should brush on a light coat of perfect seal before you lay the gasket down. Your also going to need to make or buy alignment pins so the gaskets don't shift on you while your twisting the driveshaft and pushing down on the pump cover.

[greenwell001]

i had the assembly put back together before read you post....i seated the impeller and the took the cover with the impeller off so i could then adjust the gaskets...talked to one of my buddies and he said he just goes with the gasket and doesnt put the perfect seal on....i dont have an inch pound torque wrench so i just snugged them up and put another 1/4 turn on them.... i hope that i did not ruin the cover or the gasket by tightening them down to much......but when i disassembled the cover the bolts seemed way tighter than i tightened them putting it back on....i am a newbie and dont want to put the lower back on till i know its right...is there any kind of test that i could do?

[John_S]

I just did mine, for the 2nd time since owning this boat (3 years on the old one). The pump kit I got this time, did not have the paper gasket, like the prior one. On the paper one, I did use perfect seal. On the newer one the gasket is basicly a rubber coating on the plate. The instructions did not call for perfect seal. I didn't have an "inch-lbs" torque wrench either, but was careful and set it to 5 ftlbs. I would have painted it before installing. The exposed aluminum can oxidize, or act like an anode.