Today my friend Pentaman returned to the boatyard to give his Volvo outdrive its new paint job. I'm happy to say he got it right (almost). My spy camera picked up the shot below today at about 3 PM.



With a close zoom I can see that for primer he's using Interlux Primocon Grey. This is really the perfect primer for this job, and although not zinc based as I mentioned in an earlier piece on this topic it is the perfect match for the anti-foulant he's also selected, Trilux 33. Rather than use zinc, Interlux uses Aluminum alkyls as one of the active ingredients and it is rated as an excellent primer for aluminum. Of course in the photo below you can see that neither the sprayman or Pentaman are wearing proper eye protection or respirators, a serious no no when working with any of this stuff. Throw-away gloves are also highly recommended.


Over the Primocon, he's going to apply Trilux 33 which contains no cuprous oxide, but rather cuprous thiocyanante, a powerful biocide. So the saga ends, and aside from the interface between his gimbal housing and the anti-foulant on the boat's hull, and his personnel safety habits (or lack thereof) it looks like he's going to have a properly protected aluminum drive unit afterall. Not sure what happened to his original can of Krylon my spycam caught on day one. Maybe he sensed it. Anyhow, as long as the two fellows below live through breathing the stuff as they spray away on this breezy day, the drive will survive.



 

Written by: Ed Sherman
Ed Sherman is a regular contributor to boats.com, as well as to Professional Boatbuilder and Cruising World, where he previously was electronics editor. He also is the curriculum director for the American Boat and Yacht Council. Previously, Ed was chairman of the Marine Technology Department at the New England Institute of Technology. Ed’s blog posts appear courtesy of his website, EdsBoatTips.