Repainting Mariner Cowling Do I Need 2 Prime 1st?

w2much

Lieutenant
Joined
Jun 22, 2005
Messages
1,276
Paint looks terrible. Out in the sun for too long uncovered. Faded but still the charcoal color. I would like to buy a few cans of spray paint and just go over it with a nice coating, after a fine sanding. Do I need to prime it first or would it be OK to just go over the old paint which of course still has a prime coat under it. Thanks for your replies.
 

racefan2

Petty Officer 2nd Class
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Sep 6, 2005
Messages
153
Re: Repainting Mariner Cowling Do I Need 2 Prime 1st?

I would say no. If there is paint to adhear to then you should not need to prime it. Just make sure it is sanded good and most imporant wax and grease free as paint will not stick there and you will be doing it all over.
 

dajohnson53

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Apr 28, 2004
Messages
1,627
Re: Repainting Mariner Cowling Do I Need 2 Prime 1st?

light sanding followed by thorough cleaning with a degreaser. I bought a spray can of stuff made just for this at a local automotive paint store. Removed all dust and residual contamination.

By the way, if you really want a good finish, you'll need to do several coats with sanding in between. Then, to get the totally slick, glasssy smooth finish, you'll need to rub out the final coat with progressively fine wet paper and liquid grits, ending with polishing compound. You'll need to build up several coats to do this. You might be perfectly happy with the result of just careful spraying though. I've done refinishing both ways. The rubbed out version always looks more professional, but its a lot of work and I'm generally happy with just careful spraying.
 

rickdb1boat

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Jan 23, 2002
Messages
11,195
Re: Repainting Mariner Cowling Do I Need 2 Prime 1st?

Couple coats of clear coat makes it more durable and looks nicer...
 

deerhound

Petty Officer 1st Class
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Sep 16, 2005
Messages
209
Re: Repainting Mariner Cowling Do I Need 2 Prime 1st?

I have just did my Evinrude cowl, paint had cracked and flacked in some parts, stripped cowl of all bits first then spent 1 day getting all paint off, another day with grey primer building it up sanding between with 1000 wet n dry with soap, left it for couple days then 4 top coats with Evinrude colour and I used laquer (clear coat) to give it depth/shine, looks great, I also resprayed the outside areas of the 40hp badges either side of cowl, used small air brush with compressor, if I knew how to post picture I would show same. JBD
 

Pony

Rear Admiral
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Jun 27, 2004
Messages
4,355
Re: Repainting Mariner Cowling Do I Need 2 Prime 1st?

I agree with Rick about the clear coat.

I also agree that as long as you arent down to the fiberglass or plastic part of the cover, you don't need to prime it.
 

Bob_VT

Moderator & Unofficial iBoats Historian
Staff member
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May 19, 2001
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26,019
Re: Repainting Mariner Cowling Do I Need 2 Prime 1st?

IMO the Mariner cowl should be sanded down to make everything even. If it is the aluminum cowl you should prime with zinc chromate.

I do agree on a nice clearcoat.

If you are going to invest the time to do it why not do it right. It will last longer.
 

Solittle

Fleet Admiral
Joined
Apr 28, 2002
Messages
7,518
Re: Repainting Mariner Cowling Do I Need 2 Prime 1st?

I have a pair of 1.6 l OMC SeaDrives. They were originally a metalic grey. I tried the sanding, degreasing & rattle can OMC paint. After a while bubbles would appear from under the surface and they would eventually break open. I did this a couple of times over the years and finally decided to do it right. I sanded all the paint off of the covers and gave the metal parts a thorough sanding but not down to the bare metal. Then came an automotive primer followed again by sanding. And then came the top coat of automotive paint. Here is the result:

DSCF00051.jpg


I did this two years ago and have yet to see a bubble. I do wish I had followed up with a clear coat though.
 
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