[Rich]

Mine held up pretty well.

I followed the Volvo approved procedure, it required buying some special chemicals to prep the aluminum.

I did have a small problem, which was my own fault, that may have affected the lifespan of the job.

My boat launch was coming up, and at the time we had some cool rainy weather. I got a two day window of good weather and decided to do the painting.

My problem was that I did a few coats of each layer, 2 primer coats and two top coats in two days.

I didn't leave the primer coats enough time to dry, considering the temperatures, so I ended up with some pimples under my topcoat after some time. I think this was because the primer wasn't completely dry when the top coat went on, due to putting on two primer coats in one day (even though I followed the directions on the paint, I think I would have been better off waiting for more time between coats considering the temperature).

Other than this, and the apparent issues of these 'pimples', it worked well.

So don't rush, give yourself plenty of time!

In the end, my IOs look much better than if I had left them alone.

One thing that I couldn't do, was the transom rings and mounts, as these were still on the boat, and I wasn't about to remove those.

I think my IOs were a bit corroded due to the previous owner leaving Zinc anodes on them for years, of course I now switched to Magnesium.

Since I did all the work myself (other than the media blasting, and I paid the mechanic to remove and reinstall the drives), I was only out the cost of the paint and decals, so it wasn't too expensive.

I'd do it again myself, just giving more time for the painting. If my garage wasn't full of things, if I had done the painting indoors, I wouldn't have had the paint drying issues IMHO.