Crankbait,
I am in the process of re-painting my second outboard motor. I have the first on my build thread, but I think my second attempt was much better than the first. Mind you, I am no professional and have had no experience in this, other than what I have read on this and other sites. I found this link on here a fellow member posted it.
https://conductorjonz.wordpress.com...board-motor-restoration-step-by-step-day-one/
It's about six pages long and was very helpful on painting tips and the process. The guy does amazing work at restoring and re-painting old outboards, but I found for myself to buy the quality materials and all the tools that he used would prove very expensive and out of my budget. However, his information was very helpful. As for my build I spent about $60 on the whole motor. Half the cost was spent on the decals I had special ordered to match the mid-60's model Evinrude I have.
1. I sanded all the old clear coat, paint, and decals off the hood with 320grit automotive sandpaper.
2. I wiped the hood down with a half distilled white vinegar and half water mixture (I think it's to clean off the surface and not leave a soap film) and let it dry.
3. I gave it a wipe down with a tack cloth to get it good and clean.
4. I gave it a light coat of Rustoleum Self Etching primer found in Wal-Mart automotive paint section. It's about $5 a can and depending on the size motor you have one can should work.
5. After about 30min of dry time I wet sanded with 1000 grit wet/dry sand paper. I let it dry and then wiped with the tack cloth.
6. Another light coat of primer...30 min, wet sand, tack cloth wipe.
7. A medium to wet coat of primer and let sit for a few hours to dry.
8. Dry sand with the 1000 grit and then wipe with tack cloth.
(This is a little expensive, bit it gave me good results. I got Duplicolor automotive top coat touch up paint, gloss white, from the local auto parts store. It was $7 for an 8oz can. I used two cans, but I am happy with the finished product.)
9. I sprayed a light coat of white on the hood, let it dry 30min, and then wet sanded with 1000 grit and then wipe with tack cloth.
10. I followed step 9. two more times until I had a good base of white down.
11. I put one final medium to wet coat of white down as a top coat.
12. Applied Decals, which is where I am at now.
13. I plan on using acrylic enamel clear coat by Duplicolor when finished to give a gloss finish and protect the decals.
Since I wasn't able to use paint and tools one would find at an automotive body shop, I made sure to take my time and put a lot of effort into the prep work. I have heard that prep is most of the battle. I have about two days worth of work in the painting process. I used a Saturday and Sunday because between each step you have to wait until the paint dries. I let the primer dry overnight before applying the white topcoat. I hope this helps. This process is based on everything I have found to help re-paint my old outboard motor.
