Starting Gel Coat Restoration

Just a corrections. 3M wants you to dry sand with Purple P800 (disk is not rated for wet sanding). And then wetsand with Trizact P1500.

Here is their video: 3M Marine Gelcoat Restoration Professoinal System

I really would love to hear a story of someone who followed their SOP exactly. I am inclined to follow 3M's instructions, but they seem contrary to everything else historically available online!

Won't go anywhere because of the CCP virus but you'll stand in water with a import GFCI

Got no idea about no water. Water washes away the contaminants and keeps the paper from loading up. I have that same exact buffer but it is labeled Griots never thought to use it as a sander and not a big fan of using water with electric. I have air and had picked up a color sander from Harbor Freight. Went through two until I got one that worked but it did the job.

You talking an air powered DA? The trouble with a DA is the orbit is too large,what you really need would be a Hutchins water bug III. They have a 3/32 orbit and are made to color sand and sand gelcoat. They are not cheap but your time is worth something.
You will need two different devices sander is optional the polisher is mandatory.
Removing the rub rail is one of those mission creep things,I would tape it off first and see how the gel turns out first unless your going to replace it anyway. The original rub rail might fit you'd have to check the spec's of the new rail. One thing for sure it's most likely faded- that you will see as soon as you start taking it out.
As to supplies just google them but get the pads that 3m recommends for that particular compound

To remove pin stripes and smaller decals these work good-link
Large decals you can use a heat gun or hair drier but you don't want to over heat. Acetone can be used to remove adhesive too.

There are several good threads, too much detail to repeat. Check the pinned section on the commonly asked questions.

You guys may have noticed all the posts this week, with the weather warming up and on virus lockdown, I'm really trying to get my 96 Sport restoration moving along. Engine got rebuilt over the winter and is ready to get reassembled and dropped back in.

I want to start the gelcoat restoration in a few weeks so I want to get my head around it now and start ordering materials.

I've searched through the forum at various gelcoat threads. Is there a definitive step-by-step post I've yet to find? I've not done anything with gelcoat before. Ive read various posts on different steps/grits of wet sanding, and also the change recently in 3M's product once you get to buffing.

I really need help on what grit to start with. I don't want to loose my mind with this project so I am willing to invest in the correct tools. Can I use some sort of orbital or hand sander for the wetsanding, or does it have to be done by block hand sanding?

Anyone care to create a simple instruction list based on 2020 recommendations or point me to a thread that has this?

In my case, the oxidation is VERY severe and the gel has some scratches that will need repairing. The decals and pin striping are also bad and broken, so I need to figure out the best way to remove all of that first!

Here are some pics of the boat last fall before the engine got pulled. I welcome your input, you guys are awesome!