Outdrive painting - Not antifoul!

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Quigs

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Hello again! Now that my boat is being dry berthed I have had the antifoul removed on both the hull and outdrive. Whilst I intend to keep the hull poished I need to repaint the leg to make it look a little more uniform in colour and more 'looked after'.

Instead of using antifoul paint is there another paint that I can use which will enhance the appearance of the leg and withstand the salt environment? Many thanks
 
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Dulux. Works better than Volvo paint.

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Umm for what? Thereason that you anti fould the legs I thought was to prevent weed growth - I suppose if you are not worried about trees appearing on your out drives then any ally paint would do!! However you may end up taking her out of the water 4 - 8 times a year at whatever that costs (£120 a throw in my case) to have the outdrives jet washed off.

Other than that yes a pretty flourecent Dulux would make them look far more prettier I should think /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif
 
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Dulux. Works better than Volvo paint.

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Umm for what? Thereason that you anti fould the legs I thought was to prevent weed growth - I suppose if you are not worried about trees appearing on your out drives then any ally paint would do!! However you may end up taking her out of the water 4 - 8 times a year at whatever that costs (£120 a throw in my case) to have the outdrives jet washed off.

Other than that yes a pretty flourecent Dulux would make them look far more prettier I should think /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

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Top marks for an enthusiatic respose. Nil points for reading the question in full. He stated first off that his boat is being dry stored - i.e. kept out the water where stuff can't grow on it.
 
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Top marks for an enthusiatic respose. Nil points for reading the question in full. He stated first off that his boat is being dry stored - i.e. kept out the water where stuff can't grow on it.

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Ummmm - well yes I suppose - but is this wise? Is it not going back in the water at some stage? will this not mean stripping the pretty dulux off and putting nasty unsightly antifoul back on - or is the boat just going to be a show piece? Im still confused as to why you would want to paint the legs unless its not going back in the water - we all know that using different types of antifoul can be dodgy, so to put antifoul over paint would be disasterous, hence my confusion!!

Id say go for antifoul if you dont want all the trouble of stripping the paint off later to put antifoul back on again.

/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif
 
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Instead of using antifoul paint is there another paint that I can use which will enhance the appearance of the leg and withstand the salt environment? Many thanks

[/ QUOTE ] Your Mercruiser would have originally come with a nice shiney paint scheme so it could be painted back to black. the problem with antifouling stored in the air and the heat of a summer is that is will crack and flake eventually. Might be worth having a read of this:

http://www.yachtpaint.com/

Pete
 
Ignore these Dulux recommendations, they will not survive.

It depends on what you are prepared to.
If you have corroded areas, then these need to be stripped back to bare metal, primed with a two part etching primer, followed by a two part epoxy primer filler, followed by a two part epoxy gloss.
All other sound painted areas, should be sanded, to provide a key for the two part epoxy primer filler, followed as above with at least two coats of two part epoxy gloss.
If you do this well, then it will last for many, many years.

If you want to tart it up, then there are air drying enamels, like Hammerite, which, if done well with at least two coats, could survive a few years particularly if you continue dry berthing. Good preparation again is the key ( excuse the pun)

As you dry berth, then presumably you have access most of the time, so it can be done over a few weekends. Of course not in this cold weather. I would wait till at least April. Good painting should not be done below 15C.

good luck
 
Thanks for the advice - Im sorry I didn't make it clearer in the first instance that the boat would be dry berthed and that it would used on a launch/recovery basis therefore, as mentioned by Pete, antifoul would be useless. The leg is in very good condition with no areas of corrosion evident. I wondered about the hammerite product, and maybe I will contact them to ask if it can be recommended. Will also have a look at the link provided. Access is also available all year round.
 
A dry berthed boat is launched and recovered usualy the same day, so antifoul is pointless, the boat is just washed off when it is recovered. If you put antifoul on it will be rendered useless by not being submerged in water.
The best paint therefore is the original outdrive paint or equivalent to just touch up any chips etc...
 
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Ignore these Dulux recommendations, they will not survive.

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Not so. I agree with your comment on the need for good preparation.

Here's my experience:

I have dry-berthed three boats (all Sealines, the largest 34ft)) which I bought fully antifouled. I removed all antifoul from the hull and drives using acetone, which did a beautiful job. The boats spent up to two weeks at a time in the water, after which they were lifted, pressure washed and blocked off indoors. After two weeks, they would acquire a faint patina of green which washed off easily.

I tried various paints on the outdrives and found that oil-based household gloss worked better than the manufacturer's recommended paint, even on the props, and was a lot cheaper.

Bear in mind that Quigs is doing this for cosmetic reasons.

The 34 footer was moved to a marina berth (because the dry berthing facility closed), so it was re-antifouled, including the outdrives. I had no problem with applying the antifoul over the Dulux and it stayed that way until I sold it some three years later.

That's my practical experience. What's yours?
 
Thanks John, thats the sort of response I like. Ive mailed International paints, but for information are you talking plain old oil based paint and did you use a primer?
 
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That's my practical experience. What's yours?

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You mean apart from 40+ years designing to Def Standards, where finishing for all weathers was obligatory. Yes I have personal & practical experience of painting outdrives with household paint, as an experiment, and watching it blister in 3 months. Fortunately it was over an epoxy paint, so it didn't matter.
If YOU want to be a cheapskate and use household paint, that's fine. I really don't think that's setting an example of good engineering, to be promulagated on here.
 
quigs

I understand exactly what you are trying to do , I kept my last boat on dry storage with no anti fouling (the marina guys jet washed it every time they brought her back out) with regards to the paint I used halfords black gloss which matched the mercruiser paint well

good luck
 
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Ignore these Dulux recommendations, they will not survive.

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If you really are an Engineer, I mean a qualified professional Engineer, I would expect you to ask one or two pertinent questions before such an arrogant dismissal. I didn't ask your background. I asked what practical experience you had of the problem

FWIW, I have 40+ R&D engineering years experience in a number of fields, starting with a First Class Honours Degree in Mechanical Engineering and becoming a Chartered Mechanical Engineer much earlier than most. The company I founded and ran had approvals from many marine authorities, including Lloyds, Germanische Lloyd, det Norske Veritas, etc., so lets not bandy backgrounds.

Did you dry berth for long periods? I have no idea how you painted, how you prepared or what you painted with. I can only cite my experience of the actual situation in which Quigs finds himself, in which it worked.

I do object to the term "cheapskate". I started with expensive products which were claimed to be good for the job and, after test and experimentation under actual use conditions, ended up with a better, lower cost one . That is called good engineering and I commend it to you.

I have no wish to start a war and I now leave it to Quigs to make his own decison.
 
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