White gel coat restore?

[Old No 7]

I have searched for info on this, and read alot, but have not seen what happens to me there.<br /><br />I have a mostly white 1988 Sunbird that probably hasn't been waxed in many years. I have tried 3M rubbing compound and a few others, but they all seem to turn the white gel coat a yellowish color. I am in the final process of re painting the stripes, and now the white parts look terrible. (and they are about 75% of the boat)<br /><br />I'm a little afraid to use Comet as suggested in other posts on it as I'm not really sure how thick the gel coat is. The surface is smooth and not chaulky, just dull and dingy looking, and as i said above, no matter what i have used so far, everything has made it worse! <br /><br />I have rubbed by hand and with a sears car buffer, same results.<br /><br />Any tips/suggestions?<br /><br />Thanks!

 

[thunderroad]

Re: White gel coat restore?

Get a piece of 1000 wet/dry sandpaper, fold a small piece of it into a smaller piece (2x3" or so). Get a can with some clean water, splash some water on an inconspicuous place, dip the paper into the water and sand LIGHTLY. Keep it wet as you work. See if it brightens up. Your Gelcoat would have to be virtually non-existent for this little exercise to hurt it. If you have a light touch, you could probably even use 600 without hurting it. If it brightens up, buff lightly with some light duty WHITE rubbing compound to slick it back up, then wax.<br />This is how we get old, neglected diesel fuel stains out of the fiberglass hoods on our sprayer machines and their finish is not nearly as tough as Gelcoat. Haven't damaged one yet.

 

[ondarvr]

Re: White gel coat restore?

If you've done it only by hand and with a sears car buffer then you haven't cut through the weathered surface, you will need to use a more aggresive method. Comet or light sanding in combination with heavy duty compound and a full sized buffer should all do the job. Just do a small area to see what works best for you.

 

[KRS]

Re: White gel coat restore?

Originally posted by thunderroad:<br /> Get a piece of 1000 wet/dry sandpaper, fold a small piece of it into a smaller piece (2x3" or so). Get a can with some clean water, splash some water on an inconspicuous place, dip the paper into the water and sand LIGHTLY. Keep it wet as you work. See if it brightens up. Your Gelcoat would have to be virtually non-existent for this little exercise to hurt it. If you have a light touch, you could probably even use 600 without hurting it. If it brightens up, buff lightly with some light duty WHITE rubbing compound to slick it back up, then wax.<br />This is how we get old, neglected diesel fuel stains out of the fiberglass hoods on our sprayer machines and their finish is not nearly as tough as Gelcoat. Haven't damaged one yet.

Put a few drops of dishwashing liquid in it before you dip the sandpaper, it will help prevent the sandpaper from loading and scratching badly.

 

[BLU LUNCH]

Re: White gel coat restore?

Rent buy or borrow a REAL Polisher, my Wellcraft was so chalky and black spots everywhere I almost made the mistake of painting the hull. I bought a Milwaukee 11 amp variable speed polisher and used StarBrite medium cut rubbing compound. I did the entire hull including wax in less than 2 hours. Now the hull is clean and oxidation free. Those cheep "buffers" will not cut it.......

 

[BLU LUNCH]

Re: White gel coat restore?

look at how shiney it is near the stern it was so chalky and this had black spots in the gel-goat that looked like mildew, the hull is white again with a little effort...

 

[Realgun]

Re: White gel coat restore?

I'm a little afraid to use Comet as suggested in other posts on it as I'm not really sure how thick the gel coat is

Gelcoat is not like paint. That stuff is anywhere from 1/8" to 1/4" thick. A touch of good rubbing compound or comet will not hurt 1 bit. If you really want to know how thick it is take a screw out of a hole, like a snap on the top of the boat, the white part is gel the lower is fiberglass.

 

[jmccall001]

Re: White gel coat restore?

My sea ray 1982 really looked dead, tried yacht brite from boatersd world. everyone surprised at how good a job it did. try a bit

 

[Old No 7]

Re: White gel coat restore?

Thanks to everyone for all the info. If it ever stops raining here I will try the comet this weekend. I tried the wet sand paper and it did brighten up a bit. I think the comet will do a better job though. Now that I have a spot clean, I realize it is in worse shape than I thought <br /><br />I'll post back with how it goes.