Trying to get her to shine again

[Texasbikers]

Hi, new to iboats, not new to boats. Been a while but I'm an owner again. Picked up an 88 Galaxy cuddy 199 Admiral. Nice, mechanically sound but needs some elbow grease.

The slides are white and dark blue. Heavy oxidation. I tried a power buffer with wool pad and 3M fibergalss restorer rubbing compound. It is working but I don't think it will shine like I want it to. Can the blue areas be wet sanded with 400 or 800 grit wet sandpaper and then polished with the rubbing compound and then waxed?

Thanks much, learning a lot from reading all these threads...

 

[JDP]

Re: Trying to get her to shine again

You can wet sand with 800 but if I were you I would go at it again with 1000 and then even 1500. Darker colors will show sand marks easier than lighter ones. If you were to stop at 800 then you would be pulling the scratches for a long time with rubbing compund. I just went through the same process on an 86 Bayliner cuddy. I had some really bad oxidation as well. I started with 1000 then 1500 and then 2000. Hit it with rubbing compound with the buffer then a swirl remover and then a polish. Finished up with a good coat of wax by hand. She looks like a new boat. Good luck and remember the Advil afterwards.

 

[Texasbikers]

Re: Trying to get her to shine again

JDP, thanks for the info. I'll take it to 1500.... rubbing compound then polisher and wax

What do you reccomend for the rubbing compound, polisher and wax?

Thank you!

 

[wire2]

Re: Trying to get her to shine again

I've done the same to keep the upper surfaces nice, I use Simonize rubbing compound, 3M Finesse-it polish and Star-Brite marine wax. A power buffer takes a LOT of elbow out of the job.

 

[wca_tim]

Re: Trying to get her to shine again

Start with as course as 320 to wetsand heavy oxidation, work back up to at least 1200 a few hundred at a time. Then use aqua-boff 2000 (water soluble high speed compound that order off the net, works great for cutting oxidized gelcoat) and high speed buffer, will look very good even at this point. finish up with machine glaze at high speed, and wax. will shine like glass... and presumably since you take the oxldation off with sandpaper, it'll stay that way too. I was amazed at how well this worked on the 1988 boat project I picked up this may. the gelcoat was so bad that it would rub off like chalk on your hands. now looks like new... we're talking black with metalflake...

 

[wire2]

Re: Trying to get her to shine again

>>will shine like glass... and presumably since you take the oxldation off with sandpaper, it'll stay that way too.<<

Unfortunately, no it won't. I find I have to do my Glastron blue/grey metalflake at the start of every season to keep the glass sheen. And that's with a full cover when not in use.

It seems the UV goes deeper than just the surface.

 

[wca_tim]

Re: Trying to get her to shine again

hmmmm.... I should qualify that statement... the first stages of uv damage must go deep, but the oxidation that makes it look like crap doesn't. In other words, I don't think keeping it out of the sun makes as much difference as chemically protecting the surface from further oxidation. I'm assuming (hoping? wishfully thinking? dreaming?) that if kept covered in good quality wax, it'll not be too bad to maintain and at the very least that I'll be able to get by with just buffing it out every so often. Ofcourse I may find that I'm wrong, who knows... I haven't direct experience on this, but I do have a lot of experience similar coatings and materials and an awful lot more book learning on the chemistry than anyone deserves to be subjected to....

 

[JDP]

Re: Trying to get her to shine again

I use 3M products for most all of my projects. It's easy to find locally and does a really good job. Only product that is not 3m is the wax. I use a product called Butter Wax. I worked for a couple detail shops throughout high school and then for a little while after. We got this stuff from a company that specializes in car products. This stuff is awsome. I was able to get some before I left and have been using it since. I still stop by the shop and BS on occasion and the owner hooks me up whenever I need more.

 

[LubeDude]

Re: Trying to get her to shine again

All this information is great, but there is one step that people don't think to do!

Most compounds contain oils that actually penetrate the gelcoat. This makes the job look like it's done before you actually are. After polishing an area, wipe it with an acetone or laguer thinner soaked rag and let it dry, You will then know if you have polished enough as this will remove the oils. Wear rubber gloves!

 

[LubeDude]

Re: Trying to get her to shine again

All this information is great, but there is one step that people don't think to do!

Most compounds contain oils that actually penetrate the gelcoat. This makes the job look like it's done before you actually are. After polishing an area, wipe it with an acetone or laquer thinner soaked rag and let it dry, You will then know if you have polished enough as this will remove the oils. Wear rubber gloves!

 

[wca_tim]

Re: Trying to get her to shine again

You make a good point regarding the oils and waxes in compounds and poishes, etc... If you wetsand until it's clear that the oxidized crap is all gone, and then use aquabuff (it's water soluble and washes off - it's clear when you aren't done when you just wash it off with a little dishsoap and water). I didn't condider that if you use buffing products that contain oils (silincone oil in many of them since it is so water resistant and gives a wet shiny surface look). I went all the way to 320 for a staring point, because once it dried after cleanup it was clear that 600 I started with simply wasn't removing all the oxidation (still cloudy looking areas...). I kept sanding carefully until all these were gone... and then worked up in grit and buffed out with the aqua-buff before going to anything with oil or wax in it...

I can imagine that there are a number of ways to do this. Note that the clear on mine was like a mile thick and so I never got to the metalflake doing this... I was prepared to reclear it if I had to go all the way throug hthe clear to remove all the oxidation. I'll let ya know in a couple years how the finish is holding up... ;-)

 

[seafrog]

Re: Trying to get her to shine again

One word : VERTGLASS

Check here for some before and after shots: http://www.marinestore.com/vertglas-images.html?cart=327305135423675

I can personally vouch that my before and afters were just as astounding. In a matter of a couple of hours it was done. I paid 99 dollars in Canada for the kit which has enough supplies to do several boats.

 

[thunderroad]

Re: Trying to get her to shine again

This is what we use on our red CaseIH sprayers when we trade for used ones. I've seen the finish as much as 3 years later and it still shines. Comes in gallons or aerosols. We taped off and sprayed the main stripes on my brother's 89 Bayliner because they were so dull (and the hull was still shiny) with an aerosol last year and they look great.

http://www.dakotashine.com/home.html

 

[Texasbikers]

Re: Trying to get her to shine again+holes?

Re: Trying to get her to shine again+holes?

Thanks for the additional info guys.
I'm going to hit it with the sander this weekend, I went to the worst spot on the boat and dry sandeded a 6"x6" area and got to solid blue without going through.

I'm going to give it a try, it this don't work I'll just paint it.

I have a few holes to fill from cleats I have to remount, what do I use to fill some holes from the old screws?

 

[gcboat]

Re: Trying to get her to shine again

For the holes this is just the best: http://www.marinetex.com/

 

[luckyinkentucky]

Re: Trying to get her to shine again

I haven't read all of the posts, but I will chime in here.


I would highly recommend this product here. Meguiar's Fiberglass Restoration Kit. I have a neighbor that I recommended this to, and he polished his old '72 Glastron GT-150 to the point that it looks like a new finish. This stuff really works miracles. I've sworn by Meguiar's Products on every automobile that I own. I have a '64 Corvette Fastback that I show from time to time, and Meguiar's is the only product that I will let touch my paint. Good stuff!

 

[MNBoater55455]

Re: Trying to get her to shine again

Thunderroad,

I am familiar with the product you talked about...Dakota Shine. We have used it on several ocassions with really...unbelievable results.

I was skeptical of a product that does what it says it does. The neat thing about Dakota Shine is that it absorbs into the paint/gelocoat. Never heard of that before...whereas Vertglas is a coating that wears off or flakes off...similar to a product called Colorback. If you really want something that works...go to Dakota Shine's website.

You will see it works on other things too. Good luck and go boating.