repainting my outdrive

hello again whats the best steps to repainting my outdrive..the barnacles last year were terrible and now all the paint has been removed.. i have my drive off and now i want to paint it the best way possible..now that it's down to bare aluminun iknow i need to first prime it with zinc oxide but whats the best paint after that cocidering the barnacles..the new marina i'm moving to this year is at the end of the patchauge river in rhode island and is mostly fresh water...

 

First use an etching cleaner. Second use zinc chromate not oxide. Third an epoxy primer. Last a polyurethane paint.

 

thanks alot will it help with barnicales or should i put a anti fouling paint over the poly...

 

Yes, but use antifouling for aluminum. There is a clear type too.

 

"First use an etching cleaner. Second use zinc chromate not oxide. Third an epoxy primer. Last a polyurethane paint. " ...correct except for the polyurethane paint if the motor is to be permanently immersed, do not use the poly paint, but certainly use the alloy type antifouling.
Poly paint is never for permanent immersion.

 

The factory paint is automotive polyurethane paint.

 

...maybe so, but it not for continual immersion, it was designed for trailer boats.

 

Someone told me the the merc factory paint is baked on, not simply "painted". Is there any truth to this?

 

i thought people painted boats with 2 pack to prevent osmosis, isn't that polyurethane.

 

Polyurethane paints can be baked to speed up the curing process. It helps save time in a production line. You can do that with a tent and a heater. Outboards are designed to be submerged. The factory paint lasts several years. It is the same finish as outdrives.