THX ! Some great advice.
I have a 1975 23' with a 2003, 350 300HP MAG MPI - freshwater cooled manifolds and dry joint risers - with a Bravo 3.
Awesome set up. Incredible power. Great response. Fair on fuel consumption.
Saltwater run and in water for 7 months.
There is more maintenance on the drive than any other outboard I've owned. That's if you like things to be 'right' which I do.
During each boating season, while in the water, I must do a barnacle scrape from all the exposed metal parts and a few of the drive areas. This is done 2-3 times a season.
The transom mount, the gimbal and the drive need to be sanded pretty well each season to remove the loose antifouling paint and random barnacles, then I will prime any exposed metal areas with primolux and then trilux ( not the spray - I brush it on from the can - a flux brush gets in to the crevices in the mount ). This has enabled me to keep my drive, gimbal and mount - MINT! each season. It's a decent amount of work but I feel worth it. Probably 6-8 hours a season
As for corrosion, I epoxy/barrier coated my SS trim tabs and anti foul them - this helped to reduce the amount of NOBLE metal in the water a lot. I keep the mercathode in as best shape as I can, it's tough to clean the element without damaging it.
I do all my own maintenance and the one jobI want to tackle is the bellows. Never did this project before - I do hear it is difficult at best - a real 'hand-bleeder'.
In a perfect world, I'd have a 4 stroke Yamaha outboard. IMHO - it can't be beat. No metal exposed to the saltwater for 7 months...
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