Gel Question

Black friday, i removed a stripe yesterday and of coarse it was raised, I hogged the stripe and surrounding areas with 320 dry...and was getting ready to go down to 180, did the rest of the side with 320. went t0 600 dry, then to a tr lax or something like that pad wet. thats was 2000.
then glid over it with compound.....red boat, mirror finish. at first i was delicate but once i got the feel i started hogging.
all with a orbital. I rather have my finger nails pulled then to do that again...I must have A.D.D cause i had to walk away every 10 minutes

Wow Lewy that looks great!

I don't think mine will clean up that nice but it sure gives me some incentive!

From your avatar pics it looks like your white was brighter than mine from the start.

Nice work. Looks good. '

Thanks for your input. It helps to look at the same set up.

Danny

duffnit wrote: Lewy, is that picture before or after you wetsanded?

Danny it is after wet sanding. Like Pete said I sanded these area's with 400 grit a lot more than any where else on the boat without much change. It makes sense that it is in ground dirt. Most of the fading was on the Mulberry strip. I did try the acid cleaners and cutting compounds first. All I acheived was getting a good shine on the faded gel.

I only used 600 everywhere else on the boat followed by 800,1000,1200-1500 then cutting compound with DA. It was worth the effort but I don't think I would take it up as a full time job.

duffnit wrote: Did either one of you try the muratic acid trick others have used? I thought I might try that and see if it would help the dingy color. Danny

Yes, I did as well as one of the acid hull cleaners and Interlux fiberglass gel stain remover. They didn't work!!! The discoloration in in the gel from the years of UV as well as dirt down in the pores. Gel is porous! On my transom job, I was down to 320 and would have to say I probably removed 2/3'rd's of the gel. Still no change - the virgin color was still very visable.

Danny,
Getting the virgin color back to match areas under vinyl is a tough one. I didn't have any luck on my 77 and Lewy above is another example. I ended one have to get decals made (the since 1925) because the ones available where smaller. The transom because the PO had named the boat I had to completely re gel. Your best bet would be to match the original vinyl and cover it back up!!

The "weave" you see through the gel is common. It's very visable in the 70's boats and even worse on the 60's hulls. CC used a roving for the first layer of glass next to the gel and this "telescopes" through. It's not from improper wet sanding.

Thanks Sanity n 79 for the input.

I don't know if my issues would be considered fading. If I hadn't removed the bow vinyl then it wouldn't be as obvious how dark the white has become.
The 89 (from what I found) had two standard Gel coat colors (deck/hull) white and light grey with several accent colors. Mine (I assume) was white & cranberry but now fares more to an off white & cranberry.

Knowing mine has had previous gel work (obvious from the blended areas) I wanted to take a cautious approach to the wetsanding method.

As a further note, my cousin has the same basic color scheme on his 86. When we looked at his I noticed along the top of the gunnels you can detect the weave of the fiberglass in the right light. I suppose that is what prompted my thoughts on the prior wetsanding question.

I may try the da route. Whatever method I just don't want to create any more problems.

Thanks for the ideas.

Danny

Danny,

They have a guage that you can use to measure the thickness of the gel. I don't know the standards or if there are any for the original application. Are you fading?