Refinishing bravo 3 HELP!!

Liberty44140

Hi Youll - yes I realize it looks that way in the pic but that is not the case. The paint is 3/4" or more farther away. The boat was kept in a river so the white gelcoat between the housing and the paint line is a dark brown. I need to clean that up next year. Thanks though, I appreciate the input.

Itzken

I've done the same job with Alphas.  Sandblasted.  NEVER use steel wire brush on aluminum - leaves steel in the metal.   Always use Aluminum oxide sandpaper.  Acid etched, then self etch primer, epoxy primer, enamel with hardener.  Tons of work but the look great.  Magnesium anodes and a galvanic isolator keeps them nice.  

Michael T

"itzken. 100% o the advice!

Trashman

Ok. Quick update. After sandblasting there was a rough finish, Like 1500 grit.  I lightly sanded with alum oxide paper.  The rough finish was very easy to smooth out, took very little time.  Filled the deep pits with jb weld marine and then sanded smooth. I did the worst, this drive had quite a bit of corrosion.  
 Sprayed acid onto drive and rinsed a few times till I got an even finish.  Let dry then applied alodine with a spray bottle keeping it wet.   Rinsed with water, let dry then repeated.  Alodine left a rusty look on the aluminum.  
After it dried overnight I went full hillbilly and hung the drive from the tree.  Sprayed the drive with zinc phosphate primer x3. (Zinc chromates replacement) Let dry then lightly scuffed and sprayed with mercruiser phantom black x2.  

Michael T

@T-Man....Hard Core! Probably better than factory!

Black_Diamond

Looks great. Nice job there!  Handy tree!

Trashman

Ok...it took me a while but the drive is all done, stickered and running. Had a problem with the drain plug but thats now resolved. The  pic of the bell housing is minus the aluminum bellows ring ...it was in the freezer, lol

Michael T

@Trashman, that's the nicest job I've ever seen done outside of a high-end powder coating shop. Awesome!

jme097

HeII of a job!!! Looks brand new!

smvorca350z

AWESOME JOB!

raybo3

Great job do you want to do mine??  LOL

aero3113

Your hired!