Re: painting engine cover
I have a 71 Johnson 9.5 and I was wanting to repaint the cover...do any of you have any suggestions on type of paint? The cover is aluminum based.
thanks
I've had good luck painting both aluminum and fiberglass outboard parts (lower unit and cowl) using standard painting techniques:
Either strip the part completely or remove all loose paint and sand the entire thing with fine sandpaper to ensure good adhesion.
Clean thoroughly with a tack rag or use liquid products sold to clean surfaces of grease and residue for painting - especially good for a two stroke engine where there is bound to be oily residue everywhere. I use a spray can of some sort of cleaner that I bought at a car refinishing store. Completely removes dust and any oily residue and dries very quickly.
Prime well - use multiple thin coats of primer. Use the proper primer for the surface - in your case, use aluminum primer. Follow directions on can for multiple coats. Sand in between if necessary. Getting a nice smooth primed surface is a critical starting point.
Coat with normal spray enamel or lacquer - again, multiple thin coats following directions on can.
If you want a really nice surface, at this point you would use normal rubbing/sanding techniques used for high gloss lacquer or enamel finishing: progressively fine sanding products followed by progressively fine rubbing compounds, finished with the finest polishing compounds.
I've done this and not done it - and decided for my use of an outboard, it's not worth it spending a lot of time creating a mirror smooth finish. Normal sprayed surface is just fine.
Clear coat if desired.
Add new decals.
There are a lot of DIY books on finishing - and the techniques used for cars or furniture are very similar and can be used on your outboard.
One thing I always have to remember is that this is an outboard that (for me anyway) is intended for normal use. This (again, for me) means that it will not be pristine long. It will be dusty, oily and start accumulating new nicks and scratches very quickly, even if I'm as careful as I can be. A paint drip or bug speck here or there on an outboard will probably not detract at all from what you're trying to accomplish - plus there's a pretty good chance it will be covered with a decal! I always check positioning of the decals before I go after any bad flaws in my spray job. Chances are all you'd have to do is smooth it enough so it wouldn't show under the decal - or decide you don't really care.
To me, the most difficult part is finding a clean, ventilated dust free place to do this. Outside on a slightly breezy summer day is best, but then you risk the odd bug landing in the paint.
I always go to a local automobile finishing store when I do projects like this. They know what they're doing and can advise and sell the appropriate products.
As for the type of paint to use - I've used both OEM matching paint in spray cans and also used just normal stuff found in hardware or the auto paint store. It's all the same, the only question being color matching. I've had mixed results matching the existing paint with OEM colors. If you're not trying to match any thing or it doesn't matter a lot, just buy spray paint you like.
