painting engine cowl

[toadfish]

My sun bleached engine cowl (mercury) is in need of a paint job. Does anyone have any experience/suggestions for a choice of paint (black merc color). I am assuming I will have to do a spray job to make it look good. Thanks..Toadfish

[Briguy]

I have painted many cowlings and lower units in my years. The cheapest way to achieve this is to buy a can of factory paint from your dealer or boat supply place. Lightly sand with 180 grit paper the entire cowling. Then do the entire lower unit and midsection. Make sure all oil and grease have been cleaned from the lower unit and engine first. The purpose of sanding is to get the old oxidized paint off. You do not need to sand to bare metal. Cover your transom and boat with a dropcloth and tape around the motor mounts. Now after shaking the can for a min or 2. Spray the lower unit with a light coat of paint and work up towards the cowling. It is much better to only do a light coat, then let dry and then come back for a 2nd and 3rd. After a day, go back and wax the cowling and apply new decals. Good luck.

[Snookerd]

briguy-Have you ever had to cover over exposed fiber strands with resin or filler on the top of the cowling. You saw mine in Oct. Nothing major just typical sun damage for a 1991 Yamaha, just looking to prep the job correctly before primer and paint.

[toadfish]

Briguy, thanks for the info. I started sanding my cowling today. There are several places where chips have been made in the paint and I am feathering them out so as to have a smooth surface. Have you ever used any of the TEMPO brand of engine paint?? Does Mercury actually manufacture some spray paint?? Thanks, Toadfish

[Briguy]

Tempo is what I use. As far as I know, merc does not make paint. Guess what? After this post I visited a friend who bought a 17 BW yesterday. I went over to help him and spent a few hours sanding and grinding the motor. This one was covered with slime, barnacles and mussles. A very messy job but we got her ready for paint.

[Roland Rodriguez]

You will not be happy with a spray can paint job. if you don't have the equipment to shoot it yourself, you may want to consider taking it over to a auto repair shop with your can of Imron, Awlgrip or other 2 part poly-urethane. The results will be factory fresh....minus the decals that you can pickup at the dealer bandits. If you allow the body shop a little time they can spray it rather easily and you will have a nice looking job. Just a thought

[barnacle]

Mercury does offer a spray paint that has a very nice finish to it. It is a enamel paint. The color name is Phantom Black and is Mercury part number 92-802878 1. Tempo also has Mercury black part number 020350. It will have the same end result as the Mercury finish.

[ocuyler]

Does anyone know where I can order a pint of paint for '89 Yamaha?

Otto