Tubs,
I had deep cleaned the entire motor piece by piece, and unfortunately, very little of the original copper plating was still intact. It had mostly worn down to the steel, and was dirty. I figured that roughly scuffing the surface then painting was the best course of action. My next step is to disassemble again to replace all gaskets, and polish the whole motor.
"Shells sink, dreams float. Life's good on our boat."
1921 Elto Light Twin F
1950 Mercury KF-7
1951 Mercury KG-7
1959 Mercury Mark 6A