painting tabs and plate

[addicted]

Hypothetically, if I were to paint the tabs and plate so that they were nice and smooth, would I be loosing any significant speed?

[JIM'S PERFORMANCE]

Hypothetically, if I were to paint the tabs and plate so that they were nice and smooth, would I be loosing any significant speed?

If it was nice and smooth no, But once it chips and water gets underneath it will start lifting the paint and causing drag.

[txgp1300r]

If it was nice and smooth no, But once it chips and water gets underneath it will start lifting the paint and causing drag.

+1 yep

[PuprleNuprleGPR]

If it was nice and smooth no, But once it chips and water gets underneath it will start lifting the paint and causing drag.

Jim would keeping your plates polished and sealed with a durable metal sealant benefit speeds?

[BoostCrzy]

....any surface corrosion will deteriorate the metal......i like to use a corrosion inhibitor after each use...and always be sure to rinse it good after getting out of the water....also like to use grease on bolts to deter dissimilar metal corrosion where they contact aluminum....(this applys to any aluminum/steel contact)....

[JIM'S PERFORMANCE]

Jim would keeping your plates polished and sealed with a durable metal sealant benefit speeds?

a nice 600 grit wet sand works the best, Were it almost looks polished. But hard to keep in the salt.

[HopatcongGPR]

a smooth painted surface is not what you want....you need to break the surface tension. 320 grit in the direction of flow,,,if you want it pretty paint it,,if you want that extra couple of mph 320 grit in the direction of flow.....not a light sanding job either...the first go over can take a couple of hours to do correctly!

[addicted]

well, for an everyday, all around runner, fresh water, salt water, never indoors ski, would it make sense to give up a few tenths and paint it rather than give up a few MPH after the corrosion sets in? I am certainly not going to polish, wet sand ect all the riding surfaces every ride.

I had good luck last year with parts from my raider. I blasted them, zinc chromate primer and then Mercury black paint for lower units.

[Hydrotoys]

Mike,
those outboards don't have the weight of a gpr sitting on them... at 80plus mph. If you are bound and determined to paint them, then go powdercoating.

Did you ever note, that the stock tabs are NOT painted, and the aftermarket ones are? Stock tabs are made from that same material as the pump, and actually do a pretty decent job of not eating themselves...especially around stainless hardware. I have a pretty pitted pair of stock tabs. Not sure what happened, but it had to be some kind of electrolysis.

The aftermarket ones require pretty intense work, especially in salt.

[addicted]

well, it's an FF plate and polished r&d tabs if that matters. Youre right about the oem aluminum holding up well.