Drive antifouling paint for band new seacore drives


T

TurboJoe

Member
We have brand new drives and transom assemblies for our 34pc, and wondering what to put on it for protection.

Pettit recommends sanding with 60grit and then priming and painting with hydrocoat eco. I just don't feel right sanding brand new drives with special coatings.

Any recommendations? Boat will be in the barnegat bay in NJ.
 
I agree - if brand new why would you want to add ablative. It may be prudent to give formula a call to see what they say.

On another note, where ont he bay do you hail from? I'm out of Barnegat Light.
 
I know when I replaced my Transom Assembly on my 31 I had to sand them and apply Anti-Fouling paint. They were just painted with the Mercury black which would not work. I am not sure if they are doing it different on the Seacore drives.
 
You'll regret not protecting the running gear. When you pull it out for the winter, it will be coated with all types of marine growth. It's the same reason you protect the hull. Put the Hydrocoat on. The reason for the sanding is to give the Hydrocoat a better surface to adhere to. I used the Hydrocoat myself on Bravo 3's on my 34 PC .Great product that works.
 
I put new drives on in 2014, sanded and sprayed with "clear" bottom-paint @ a cost of $45 per can X 4. Worse thing that I could have done. The paint didn't work at all. Had to pull the boat after 2-months and scrape/powerwash off at least 1,000 barnacles per drive. I'm in northern Barnegat Bay and unless you keep the boat in a Lift, you MUST sand and prep the new-drives with Primer and then a coat of your favorite aluminum compatible bottom paint. I'm a fan of Interlux Trilux 33. I raise the drives and use 1 1/2 spray-cans per drive to paint the hard-to-reach areas and then lower the drives. I then roll the Trilux 22 paint onto the drives using a 1x4" cotton roller. They come out looking brand new each and every year not to mention when I pull the boat in the fall the most that I have is a dozen small barnacles on each drive.....

P.S. For the sake of memorializing your "new" drives, a couple of pictures should suffice when you feel the need to look at them ;-)
 
I have had great customer service from Pettit in the past. On the phone they recommended spray the drives with their 1863 alumnacoat after scuffing the merc paint. At first he said strip and use their primer,but no way I'm stripping the coating on brand new seacore drives. That sounds like a horrible idea.
 
Merc designed these drives to hold up in salt water environments, has anyone contacted them to see what they recommend?
 
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