Boats For Sale:
Wet Sanding the 89’s Hull |
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Chopper 
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Joined: June-15-2006 Location: Australia Status: Offline Points: 821 |
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 Topic: Wet Sanding the 89’s HullPosted: April-11-2007 at 12:48am |
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Hi Guys,
How much fun is wet sanding.  After working out that cutting componnd only made the oxidation a little shiny, I decided to break out the wet n dry sand paper.
Started a little before lunch on Monday, and finsihed when it was dark. In that time I only got from the transom to the wind shield on 1 side 
My arms were dead that night. I was working at the rate of approx 2 letters / beer, with a few rest breaks in between. Maybe that was the problem.? I'm sure the end result will be worth it, but I'm still at 320 grit atm.! One question though for the guys that have done the same, I can still notice some minor shadow in the colour from the old correct craft decal, Will this be noticable with subsequent sanding / polishing> And no matter how much I rub, the white is "yellowed" and I cannot seem to get it back to the colour under the pin strpies.? Any tips guys.? |
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scott8370
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Joined: November-30-2005 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 872 |
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Posted: April-11-2007 at 8:12am |
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Are you sanding the whole boat with 320, or just the stripes?
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Scott
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8122pbrainard
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Joined: September-14-2006 Location: Three Lakes Wi. Status: Offline Points: 41045 |
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Posted: April-11-2007 at 8:41am |
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Chopper, You will not be able to bring the boat back to the original color that is showing up under the decals and pin stripes. Gel is porous and takes on dirt with age. I have had the same problem. I removed the boat name on the transom from a previous owner and found the lighter gel. I tried wet sanding till I was afraid that I would sand it compleatly off. I also tried solvents and cleaners such as fiberglass stain remover that contained oxalic acid. The shadow was still there so I ended up having to re gel coat the entire transom. I also had the same thing under one of the decals and ended up having to have new ones made. Sorry I'm not much help!
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62 wood
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Joined: February-19-2005 Location: NW IL Status: Offline Points: 4527 |
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Posted: April-11-2007 at 8:49am |
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Chopper,
I found wet sanding is all about "getting the right mind-set".. A cool one or two.. crank some of your favorite tunes on the stereo... no air compressor running..and enjoy!......ok maybe it is a pain...but think how it'll look when done..AND you wont haver to do it again for many years! you going to put the decals back on? also ...what grit you using before buffing? |
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Randy_in_Ohio
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Joined: September-13-2006 Location: N. Canton, OH. Status: Offline Points: 1891 |
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Posted: April-11-2007 at 9:46am |
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Chopper,
Fun, isn't it? 62 is right it's all in the mind set, and nothing better to get your mind set than lots of cold beer and some good tunes. 320 may be a little too aggressive to start with. you will have to sand all the scratches from the 320 with subsequent grades of paper. my advice would be to start with the highest grit that will do the job. keep a spray bottle with water and keep spraying to remove the old material (good job for a helper) when you get to the high speed buffer find a real gritty compound like 3M Super duty use it with a heavy wool pad cleaning with a spur often. follow this with a heat activated compound on a medium foam pad, then a finishing glaze. take your time and work in small sections. Don't try to tackle an entire side in one day. this is a time consuming project |
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TRBenj
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Posted: April-11-2007 at 10:02am |
I wouldnt skip from a compound to a glaze in one step. Compound is a course product used for removing material, while glaze adds product to the surface. You'll want to polish in between those steps to make sure youre surface is smooth. The shine should last longer too, since the surface will still look good once the wax and glaze wear off. |
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Randy_in_Ohio
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Posted: April-11-2007 at 10:14am |
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Tim, are you saying to polish with just a dry buffer between the compound and glaze? I would agree. you must have everything clean, smooth and polished to a high gloss shine before using the glaze and then wax. I'm just going by what I learned by doing mine. I am in not in any way an expert in this field, still learning.
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62 wood
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Posted: April-11-2007 at 10:21am |
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Dont forget a little dish soap in your spray bottle....helps lube while sanding ..
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TRBenj
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Posted: April-11-2007 at 10:40am |
No, Im saying that a polish should be used after compounding to further smooth the surface. I really like 3M Finesse-It II, but there are other polishes that work too. The polish will remove the scrathes and swirl marks left by the compound. After all the steps that remove material (sanding, compounding, polish), I agree that the surface should be completely cleaned to ensure the glaze and wax will stick. On my car Ill wash it after polishing, on the boat I'll sometimes use acetone since it doesnt harm the gel. |
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Randy_in_Ohio
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Posted: April-11-2007 at 11:37am |
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Tim, I used the 3M Finesse-it II after the heat activated compound. I thought that was a finishing glaze?
Can I use Acetone to clean before applying pin stipping? |
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TRBenj
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Posted: April-11-2007 at 12:56pm |
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Nope- the Finesse-It II is a polish. It removes material, it doesnt add any. Im a big fan of the stuff. I used some 3M glaze afterwards that I wasnt real impressed with.
Yes, you can (and should) apply acetone before applying decals or striping tape. It will make sure the gel is clean and the tape will stick. Acetone doesnt harm gelcoat. |
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Chopper
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Posted: April-11-2007 at 8:58pm |
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G'day guys,
Scott / Randy, I'm only using the 320 on the stripe. I too thought 320 would be too abrasive, but I tried 800 first, and it hardly touched it. The reason I went for the 320 was to restore some colour. I have the blue stripe, and it had gone a brown / green colour. 
When I say I can see some shadow from the decals, I mean it is only very slight. You would only see it if you looked hard, and it's only where the correct crafy decals were at the rear of both sides. The ski naut & transom decals came off & the shadow sanded out nicely. After I finish the other side with the 320, I plan to use 800 & 1200 on the stripe then 1500, 2000 on the hull side & deck. I have done the transom already (no polish) and it has come up really smooth & shiny, so the rest sould come up a treat. Then compound, polish etc the whole lot. This is what it looked like when I got it: 
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TRBenj
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Posted: April-11-2007 at 9:11pm |
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Be prepared to do a LOT of sanding with the 800 if you attempt to use it to remove scratches left by 320. I sanded with 320, followed by 400 and 600 before hitting it with 1000 (twice). I would have done 800 as well, but couldnt find it locally.
If you get a good compound (like 3M Super Duty) theres no reason to wetsand up to 2000 grit. It says right on the bottle that it will remove scratches left by 1000 grit. Ill take a few rounds with a buffer over wetsanding any day! |
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62 wood
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Posted: April-11-2007 at 9:47pm |
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Chopper ,
Im with Tim on the sandpaper grit... No need to go beyond the 1000... I only use 1500 as the last wet-sand before buffing paint on an auto paint job. Are you using a block under your paper? I sometimes cut a paint stir-stick to about 4" long and wrap the paper around it. The paper's surface isnt as large.... Less drag and works good on tighter curved areas. You putting the original Nautique scheme back on? |
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Chopper
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Posted: April-11-2007 at 11:19pm |
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I might try to find some 600 then & ditch the 2000. My locat auto parts store had 400, but I don't think they had 600. I just thought 400 would be too close to 320 to bother with it.
I would like to reinstall "original" style graphics, but as most on here would know, finding graphics for a boat of this age will be difficult. Can anyone suggest a starting point.? I was thinking of using the 06 "ski nautique" side decals as they should be easy to come across. Does anyone have a font or graphics file that I could use to have some made.? |
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jbear
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Joined: January-21-2005 Location: Lake Wales FL. Status: Offline Points: 8193 |
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Posted: April-11-2007 at 11:40pm |
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Wood; If you enjoy wet sanding so much...as your friend I would love to help you out with something you will enjoy. I'll drop off the '80 and lots of cold ones. Sand to your hearts desire.
john |
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"Loud pipes save lives"
AdamT sez "I'm Canadian and a beaver lover myself"... |
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Chopper
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Posted: April-12-2007 at 12:03am |
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Just went to the auto parts store. They don't have 600. Looks like lots of rubbing with 800. Does beer numb the pain.?
I'll keep looking though. |
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62 wood
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Posted: April-12-2007 at 12:16am |
Your on with that one!..Bring'er up! I'd be glad to get my hands on that beauty! When you say you want to help me , does that mean literally? Ive got spare sanding blocks! 
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nautique frk
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Posted: April-12-2007 at 12:31am |
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Here is a great tool I used after re gel coating my friends Red and white 89 SN. Check out the KOVAX wet sander at
www.eagleabrasives.com This is an awesome tool, I have used mine many times since the restoration of my friends 89 SN. Well worth it check it out !! Nautique Frk |
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jbear
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Joined: January-21-2005 Location: Lake Wales FL. Status: Offline Points: 8193 |
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Posted: April-12-2007 at 12:49am |
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Wood; Be glad to help with the cold ones! I really would have to wait for warm weather up there tho.
john |
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"Loud pipes save lives"
AdamT sez "I'm Canadian and a beaver lover myself"... |
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8122pbrainard
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Posted: April-12-2007 at 4:56am |
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Chopper, Why is your boat in a Quarantined area? The boat doesn't look THAT bad!!
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TRBenj
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Posted: April-12-2007 at 8:02am |
Quite the contrary- I ordered a full decal set for my '90 (same graphics as '89) through White Lake Marine last spring. I believe they had to get them made by CC (not a stocked item), so they should still be available through a dealer. I would at least use 400 in between 320 and 800. Thats a huge step. I skipped from 600 to 1000 and had to do the 1000 twice, and probably could have done it a third time. If none of the auto parts places have the paper, I would try an autobody supply shop- theyre almost sure to have it. Also, be aware that a "p" designation on a grit is using a different scale. I learned that 600p grit is about equal to 360 grit... so dont get them mixed up! |
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Chopper
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Posted: April-12-2007 at 8:16pm |
That pic was taken whilst it was in the process of clearing Australian customs. There are only a handfull of these over here, so I imported it. It's not that bad
the hull only has 390 hours, and is in realy good condition, no scratches / chips cracks. It's just oxidized. |
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Chopper
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Posted: April-12-2007 at 8:21pm |
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TR,
Thanks for the advice. I'll try some body shops. With regart to the decals, I might email a few dealers then & see what they say. |
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Randy_in_Ohio wrote: