Polishing Hull: Steps and Materials??

I just got a '76 Southwind 18. Its in pretty good shape and is sitting in the garage begging me to start bringing the hull shine back to life. I need to do something to it to save time in the spring. I don't think it will take too much to bring the shine back. Questions:

1. What steps should I follow without going completely overboard on it (just a good basic shine)?
    - Wash hull
    - Rubbing compound with electric buffer?
    - Wet sand?
    - Wax

2. What materials will I need, and where is the best place to get them in January? Car parts stores, West Marine, etc?

3. My garage is not heated, so I am not sure if I can complete everything until it warms up some.

Thanks guys! Just chomping at the bit to get at it, and wanted to get a summary of the key steps. I know this forum is filled with good info, but, my head was spinning after reading through all the steps, products, methods, etc. I am just trying to summarize the key steps and materials.

Thanks!

Dave

Ive gone into detail about the process Ive used before, but Ill summarize if it helps.

1.
a. wash
b. wetsand (if necessary)
c. compound (if necessary)
d. polish
e. wax

2. I like 3M products. The best prices Ive found are at:
http://www.smartshoppersinc.com/

The trick is figuring out how aggressive you need to be in order to restore gel. If its just shine youre looking for (no oxidation or color fading), a good polish might do the trick. Test a small area and work back (increasing aggressiveness) and see what gets you results. I used the following products after wetsanding:

3M Super Duty Compound (2x)
3M Imperial Microfinishing Compound (1x)
3M Finesse-It II Finishing Material (2x)
Collinite 925 Fiberglass Wax (by hand)

Each product was able to remove the scratches left by the previous round of buffing. The Finesse-It II is a polish. You'll want to use a good rotary buffer and match each product up with the right of pad to see the best results.

John, sounds like a good deal to me- though I gotta tell you, it may be cheaper for you to do it yourself! Its definitely cold up here, as we're getting another 12" of snow today. Ive got a few projects keeping me busy for now- but ask me again in another month and I may change my mind!

we use a foam pad when it gets down to the polish

Tim, I've used the 925 and it shines just as good, but it is not as durable. It is much easier to apply. The paste requires much more effort and a bit of a knack. Doesn't matter though if your boat is on a trailer and you can wax it every few weeks or even every week. We moor our boats all summer, taking them out midway for waxing and oil changes, so I like the paste. (Other than the Mustang, I haven't waxed a boat in about 4 years. David has become the wax man. Tom is the interior man. I just maintain the engine. This has worked out pretty good for me)

The 925 obviously works well because I was expecting you to tell me you wax your boat at least weekly.

TRBenj suggested the following:
3M Super Duty Compound (2x)
3M Imperial Microfinishing Compound (1x)
3M Finesse-It II Finishing Material (2x)
Collinite 925 Fiberglass Wax (by hand)

I stopped at a local parts store today to see if they had the 3M products. They did. Not sure if they had the Imperial Microfinishing compound though. I don' remember seeing it, but, it may have been there.

I think they sides of the hull will be just fine with the above products. The top of the deck....tbd?? May need to wet sand.

Question: Can I use these products with an electric buffer in a cold, unheated garage, or should it be 50-60 Degrees, as the auto parts guys told me. With so much downtime this winter, I want to get on it and get some before and after pictures posted.

Dave

TRB....my post was misleading above. The local parts store I stopped at DID have the 3M products you mentioned. I think a big bottle of the Super Duty Compound was around $24 or so. I will have to do closer comparisons.

I am glad to hear they are not temperature dependant. I want to get at it ASAP. I worked on the garage all weekend on it.

I drained three gallons of oil/water out of the oil pan. Fresh oil in, and drained again. Did a compression check. All cylinders between 100-125. It sounds MEAN!

Gary;

That parts store you previously mentioned in McHenry is where I found the 3M products today. No, the family wasn't in the garage, but, both MY boat, and MY truck are, and thats not making the wife happy.

The nagging to get the boat out hasn't started full force yet, but, I can tell its not far away. I am thinking of storing the truck instead of the boat so I can keep working on the boat over the winter.

Do you know of places that are renting garage space for the next several months in the Algonquin/Cary areas?

No I don't David,never had to look.I'm lucky my Dad leaves for the winter and I store my MG and my CC in his garage.

Tom,
On my 77 Tique, I was never able to get rid of the ghosting and actually sanded to the point of seeing glass. The PO had named the boat with vinyl decals on the transom so I ended up having to regel the transom. On the hull sides, I had to have original size "since" decals reproduced to cover the ghosting up.

scottb7 wrote: what would be difference between using these 2 products? i have some light swirl marks i want to take out. ps. i am doing all by hand, both of which say can be done? http://www.autogeek.net/3m-rubbing-compound.html http://www.autogeek.net/3m-scratch-remover.html

By hand? Yes, it can be done BUT, be prepared for lots of hard work. Invest in a buffer.

Proper link #1 for the convenience of all

Proper link #2 for the convenience of all

eric lavine wrote: wet sanding is a last ditch effort, do a test spot with some compound first, i use 3m compound, it is a white paste and seems to work the quickest, how cold is it in your garage? the compunds and buffing pads rely on heat also when buffing, alot of guys clean thier pads often...and you end up using twice the compound. do you have any local bodyshop supply stores in your area? buy local cause the catalogers (WEST) (land n sea) will get you. Napa will also carry these supply's. when tackling this always go to a proffesional body shop supply house, these products are for proffesional use and are designed to get the job done

Agree with Eric, Wet sanding is the thing you do only on the spots that stay ugly after polishing. Also agree with most of the steps posted above. Don't forget to use a finishing wax to close the polished gel coat and protect it from deterioration.

Compound: Do not confuse cars and boats when polishing. Polyester, Vnylester, etc will NOT react the same way to compounds. 3M would be the product to use, especially when you are a novice to polishing. The 3M cutting paste has a feature that it will burn the rubbing parts when you use it incorrectly (at least here in Europe). This may be annoying for the experienced polisher that wants to rub out a mould, but for a novice this is great, because it will prevent damaging your boats gel coat. Also, you can reactivate and cool the compound with water. What I do with 3M is to keep a plant sprinkler at hand to wet things a bit from time to time if I want to cut corners and run at higher RPM.

Tools: As a first time polisher, use a wafer style pad for the first 'cutting' runs that you make. This will prevent holograms and thus reduces the number of times you have to polish the boat. It will also prevent you from creating hot spots and will help you keep a consistent result. I use a woollen pad only for the final run for a show&shine result.

Method: Do not press on the polishing machine or run it at high RPM. This will create heat and that is never good for polishing. Let the machine and compound do the work for you.

What is a Wafer style Pad? Did a search and got nothing. I do like the concept of reducing the number of times you have to polish a boat.

For wet sanding using 800, 1000, 1200 by hand what type of blocks are recomended? I see the Soft flexable blocks, the Roller Guard, and several others designed for wet sanding. Sizes range from 2 1/2 X 5 inchs and up. What about the tight curved surfaces any special blocks for these areas? Is there a preferance?