What's the best paint for an outdrive?

[mjt]

Last season I painted the Enfield with Hammerite on the advice of the marina but it has stood up very poorly to six months immersion in fresh water and is flaking badly in spite of the fact that I had prepared the leg well, including using Hammerite special metals primer on the bare alloy. Can anyone suggest a more robust coating that might last more than one season?

[Antares_9]

Mercruiser outdrive primer and paint will do the job nicely, as will Volvo Penta, follow the instructions carefully and all should be well. Both systems are designed for ali surfaces and should last years if maintained by touching up every off season, especially in fresh water. Assuming you are constantly in fresh water then some strategically placed Magnesium anodes should help stop any corrosion from little chips lifting the surrounding paint.

[mjt]

Thanks for the reply. Can you point me towards a supplier of those products? I've tried a quick Google for Mercruiser paint but it mostly found threads on this topic in other forums. From what I read it appears that Mercruiser primer and paint are in aerosols but I would prefer something that could be applied by brush.

As an alternative I was wondering if Blakes Underwater Primer followed by Blakes Waterline might be the way to go. The datasheet for Waterline says it's designed for aluminium outdrives.

[Jim]

There are plenty of online sellers which you will find if you search for anti-fouling paint. I used International Prep O Drev for our ally drive leg and it's behaved well...... I'm sure it's the same stuff as Mercruiser and is marketed by International Paints http://www.yachtpaint.com/uk/default.asp

You will find a complete list of other paints plus all the do's and don'ts on the International website.

[mjt]

Thanks for that also, Jim. I had, in fact, looked at the Yachtpaints website before Blakes but didn't notice that product.

[Jim]

Glad you found it Mike and sorry I spelt it wrong..it is of course Prop O Drev

I did also use their primer which was designed specifically for aluminium drive legs etc and I went totally International across the board by using everything from their waterways blue anti foul right down to toplac for the go faster stripes on the upper hull. Four and a half years on and she still looks good (though I haven't seen her bottom for over 4 and a half years). We leave that bit to the yard these days

[senator]

I used seajet emporer antifoul, be sure to check it is the right one suitable for aluminium and use the right epoxy primer, I think it is 034. and 037 2 pack primer.

The good bit about this is once you are finished on the outdrive you can carry on and do the rest of the hull, not the cheapest antifoul but it gave fantastic results on the old boat and apart from a touch up on the sharp edges of the outdrives was good for 2 years, not bad for a boat that often saw upwards of 30 knots.

Not the cheapest antifoul but if when you lift a boat moored at Burgh castle after 15 months the bottom is totaly clean it has to be a good thing.