SoCal Jet Boats
Tech Talk => Gelcoat / Paint / Fireberglass Repair => Topic started by: Chad krieger on July 01, 2013, 02:32:43 PM
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So I want to shine up my boat anybody got some good suggestions on what I need to do besides painting it
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Try some buffing compound and a yellow pad and see what happens.. IF that doesnt make it shinny you might have to cut a layer of that crap off with 2500 then go back to compound and a yellow pad. That should remove the 2500 scratches then do a pass with the grey pad and finishing polish to bring out the shine !! :) Put a nice coat of some carnuba wax on it and your should be good to go.. !
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automotive waxes arent going to be able to cut something that deep of oxidation (they're for polishing paint, not gelcoat). if you have a west marine or an RV store in your area grab a bottle of this stuff it should help a lot with your faded gelcoat.
http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=14673&catalogId=10001&langId=-1&storeId=11151&storeNum=50218&subdeptNum=50278&classNum=50279#.UdID2VN7jmk (http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=14673&catalogId=10001&langId=-1&storeId=11151&storeNum=50218&subdeptNum=50278&classNum=50279#.UdID2VN7jmk)
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Went to west marine and got 3m same stuff ill try later tonight it's too dam hot now thanks guys for your help in Las Vegas
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Went to west marine and got 3m same stuff ill try later tonight it's too dam hot now thanks guys for your help in Las Vegas
if you have an electric DA buffer it'll be MUUUCH easier than trying to do it by hand. they're pretty cheap at harbor freight with a pad (they have a red pad thats more aggressive than yellow) I also keep a spray bottle with water to keep the compound wet as it tends to built up heat with the abrasiveness.
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The guy across the the let me use his da only yellow and gray pad do u think I should get a red pad thanks.
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The guy across the the let me use his da only yellow and gray pad do u think I should get a red pad thanks.
give it a try in a spot with the pads you have. if it doesnt look good then try other stuff. keep the rpms down and let the compound do the work. too fast and itll just heat up. once you get a nice clean non-oxidized surface then you can step into a polish to enhance the shine and last but most importantly you need to protect that nice new gelcoat with a wax. this will protect it from the sun, water spots will be easier to get off, etc. the more you protect the gelcoat with a wax the longer it will shine and the more it will shine.
be careful if you have any small stripes and such. keep the DA moving ALWAYS.
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Cool thanks a lot ill try tonight when I get off work
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So I got a red pad and started to use it with a spray bottle of water pad turned black and started to polish now do I do the hole float like this then wash all the black off then polish it then wash and then wax it all to seal correct thanks
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I used the red pad with the highest cutting action (#10) compound made by 3m, then white pad with (#4) polish made by 3m, then just used a normal ten inch electric buffer with regular wax, made my gel coat look brand new.. Everything together cost me about 80 bucks
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So this what I am finding out is that the gelcoat is so old that I need to sand it so when I get off at nights I've bin trying to da with compound it's just not cutting it so last night I thought that I would try dry sanding it with some 1000 paper long and behold it worked the tip of my boat looks brand new again so now I will spend the next couple of days sanding then compounding wash it them seal it wash it the wax it. That for your guys help.
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i had to wetsand mine to remove oxidation...
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Yes this will half to work if u take your hand and rub mine it feels like sandpaper so I used sandpaper to take it off looks great so far but only can do a little bit at night too hot here in Las Vegas so this weekend I will finish It up I hope.
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Yes this will half to work if u take your hand and rub mine it feels like sandpaper
That don't sound right....LOL!
sent from my mobile wireless thingy
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If you haven't yet, do a search of "wetsanding". The subject has been gone through a couple of times and there are some good tips
about it.
edit: you can also look for "colorsanding".
Take some pics of the before and after. :thumbup:
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one tip from me is to add a few drops of johnson&johnson baby soap to the water. it'll keep things slippery so that you dont get that "stuck to boat sandpaper" issue. the baby soap doesnt have any chemicals or agents in it that can affect the gelcoat. (i also use it as a lubricant for my window tinting with water)