Hull restoration - advice needed
Printed From: CorrectCraftFan.com
Category: Repairs and Maintenance
Forum Name: Boat Maintenance
Forum Discription: Discuss maintenance of your Correct Craft
URL: http://www.CorrectCraftFan.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=10795
Printed Date: November-17-2024 at 12:59am
Topic: Hull restoration - advice needed
Posted By: kraftchick
Subject: Hull restoration - advice needed
Date Posted: June-10-2008 at 2:18pm
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Folks,
I've been browsing though all the forums looking at some of the restoration work that has been done...amazing is all I can say !! I've got a red/black on white '91 SN that I thought was done for, I had no idea I might be able to get that rich color back, and had just resigned to maybe having it painted some day. TRBenj (sp?)...I noticed you have the red/black on white '90 SN...it looks fantastic...I want mine to look like that again! I have zero exterior maintenace experience, other than waxing a car a few times with turtle wax. In the research I've done it, and with the color fade that I've got (sorry I don't have a picture right now), I'm almost certain it's going to be a wet sand job. I saw several talking about doing it by hand and some using DA's. Doing anything with a buffer or DA without the experience scares me a little for fear of ruining the gel completely. However, I'm pretty resourceful and can pick things up pretty quickly once I understand the pertinent information. Can anybody give me some tips on how to start, how to determine whether by hand or DA/buffer would be best. I want to start on the hull (deck is in pretty goog shape, just needs to be compounded and polished I think). What is involved in wet sanding...how do you do it ? |
Replies:
Posted By: nick85sn
Date Posted: June-10-2008 at 4:11pm
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This link might help.
http://www.correctcraftfan.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=6277&KW=wet+sanding - Wet Sanding the 80's Hull Nick |
Posted By: TRBenj
Date Posted: June-10-2008 at 4:24pm
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Brian, check out this thread: http://correctcraftfan.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=4721&PN=2&TPN=1 - buffing gelcoat
That should cover just about everything. In my experience, its *possible* to remove minor oxidation with a lot of time spent using a very aggressive compound on a wool pad and wheel, but sanding with 1000 or 1200 grit will make short work of it. Follow up with a good buffing (compound --> polish) and that will restore the shine and get rid of the oxidation. If you have some decent color fading that you want to bring all the say back (matching virgin gel from under decals, etc) then you may have to be more aggressive- Ive had to go all the way down to 320 grit (and back up) in some cases. ------------- |
Posted By: DeepCreekNauti
Date Posted: June-11-2008 at 12:27am
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We just started sanding down ours. Its an '86 and the dark grey looked horrible. Inthe past, we buffed & buffed with minor results. After following the advice on ccf we found wetsanding is better and faster. Been using 800 & 600 wetsand paper to get the fade out then plan to use 1500 - 2000 on the final pass before compound and buffing. Been at it for the last 2 weekends only putting in about 4 hours off and on - gotta play too! - each day. We are making great progess. The trick is to work in small sections and don't get ahead of yourself. I will posts some pics of our efforts in a few days. |
Posted By: skicat
Date Posted: June-11-2008 at 1:23am
It is time for the BFN to get some work. I started with 1000 grit sanding, rubbing compound, finishing compound & finish up with a good wax. Got to get it ready for Green Lake since the skier isn't going to make it. Here is the difference with sanding, buffing & finish compound. The transom is done except for wax. The side is what I started out with.
 ------------- Greg http://www.correctcraftfan.com/diaries/details.asp?ID=2427&yrstart=1981&yrend=1985" rel="nofollow - 86 BFN |
Posted By: kraftchick
Date Posted: June-11-2008 at 2:00pm
| Skicat....that looks GREAT !! I hope I can get at least the same results. Did you wetsand by hand or using a DA or orbital ? |
Posted By: Randy_in_Ohio
Date Posted: June-11-2008 at 3:58pm
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The Gel-coat is pretty thick. unlike an automotive paint, you can buff the gel-coat pretty aggressively without causing damage. I would experiment a little first. Try using 3M Super Duty compound on a wool pad using a high speed buffer. If that doesn't do it then your going to have to wetsand.
When I got my boat it looked really bad. chalky white oxidation and lots of scratches. I ended up wetsanding the whole thing using more aggressive sandpaper in scratched areas and 600 - 1000 over the whole thing. then followed with the 3M super duty and then a heat activated compound on a yellow foam pad, then a finishing material and finally Meguires flagship marine wax. Now, I have never used a buffer before in my life, but I have to say, my boat looks almost new. I get a lot of compliments. I recently used the high speed buffer on a friends car that was pretty oxidized and it turned out great. If you want to learn how to use a buffer, a boat is a great place to practice. BTW the 3M super duty works great on the metal trim also, fins, rudder etc. ------------- http://www.correctcraftfan.com/diaries/details.asp?ID=1602&yrstart=1991&yrend=1995" rel="nofollow - 1993 Sport Nautique |
Posted By: skicat
Date Posted: June-11-2008 at 4:08pm
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I did my wet sanding by hand. All of the compounding I use a high speed buffer. ------------- Greg http://www.correctcraftfan.com/diaries/details.asp?ID=2427&yrstart=1981&yrend=1985" rel="nofollow - 86 BFN |
Posted By: kraftchick
Date Posted: June-11-2008 at 4:33pm
| Thanks for the input guys. I think I'll take all the advice, and start by hand on a small area just to see exactly what it is going to take to get through the oxidized stuff. See what kind of success is possible, and then go from there. |
Posted By: Randy_in_Ohio
Date Posted: June-11-2008 at 9:06pm
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I did my wet sanding by hand also. I had one of my kids stand over me with a spray bottle full of water and keep spraying to remove the residue, or if your alone, keep dipping the sandpaper in a bucket of water you have to keep it nice and wet.
I would start with a heavy compound on a wool pad and high speed buffer and see what kind of results you get. don't be afraid to get aggressive with it. ------------- http://www.correctcraftfan.com/diaries/details.asp?ID=1602&yrstart=1991&yrend=1995" rel="nofollow - 1993 Sport Nautique |
Posted By: 62 wood
Date Posted: June-12-2008 at 3:27am
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kchick,
You might want to start on the transom to get a feel for what works best,that way you can try a couple of options without the worry of blending in a whole side.. Im working on a very oxidized blue cuda right now, compounding is working ok for this boat. ------------- http://www.correctcraftfan.com/diaries/details.asp?ID=1117&sort=&pagenum=6" rel="nofollow - 64 American Skier 62 Classic.. 73 Ski Nautique |
Posted By: bkhallpass
Date Posted: June-12-2008 at 4:41am
Good theory Steve, but he's got a 91 with the euro tail. The transom is likely white (or whatever they call white, silvercloud perhaps?). His major oxidation is likely in the red stripe which is only along the side. BKH ------------- Livin' the Dream |
62 wood wrote:Posted By: kraftchick
Date Posted: June-13-2008 at 6:26pm
| Yep, that's exactly it...the red stripe is what's faded out...the rest of it fine, probably ust needing a good compounding. I am going to do it by hand though. |
Posted By: Randy_in_Ohio
Date Posted: June-13-2008 at 11:46pm
I really, really, really doubt you will get satisfactory results using compound by hand. You would need arms like Superman and it would still take ten years. I picked up a high speed buffer from Harbor Freight for $30, worth every penny. ------------- http://www.correctcraftfan.com/diaries/details.asp?ID=1602&yrstart=1991&yrend=1995" rel="nofollow - 1993 Sport Nautique |
Posted By: skicat
Date Posted: June-14-2008 at 12:42pm
I will have to agree with Randy on the compounding by hand. My arms are sore with the buffer. Don't be afraid to use the buffer. The gel is pretty thick. My neighbor thought I was crazy using sand paper on the hull. Once he saw it when the coumpounding was done, he changed his mind (well about the boat anyway).  ------------- Greg http://www.correctcraftfan.com/diaries/details.asp?ID=2427&yrstart=1981&yrend=1985" rel="nofollow - 86 BFN |
Posted By: Randy_in_Ohio
Date Posted: June-14-2008 at 1:08pm
The trick is to keep your muscles relaxed by consuming lot's of cold beer 
It took me many weeks to get the finish back, I had to do the entire boat, top to bottom. It was worth every bit of effort and I'm glad I did the work myself. I learned a lot, and every time I look at it or get a compliment on how great it looks, I get that nice warm fuzzy feeling 
My neighbor thought that I had taken the boat and had it repainted. ------------- http://www.correctcraftfan.com/diaries/details.asp?ID=1602&yrstart=1991&yrend=1995" rel="nofollow - 1993 Sport Nautique |
Posted By: 88 Nautique
Date Posted: June-15-2008 at 8:06pm
I got the same one. Definately not a professional tool, but it will do the job and it won't break the bank. Don't use the buffing wheel that comes with it though. Very cheap. Get a good 3M "Hook It" wheel, wool compound pad and foam polishing pad. Make sure you don't skip grits. If you start with 800, go to 1000 for example. Don't skip from 800 to 1500 or you will have a haze you won't be able to get rid of. Also when you're shopping for compound, make sure it will remove the scratches from the last wet sanding paper you use. If you get 3M stuff, it will say in fine print on the directions. One disclaimer: Others will have different ideas, but this is what has worked for me. Kurt ------------- http://www.correctcraftfan.com/diaries/details.asp?ID=1657" rel="nofollow - My 88 Nautique |
Posted By: lewy2001
Date Posted: June-16-2008 at 1:46pm
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All these wet sanding threads got the better of me. I noticed even Chopper did it! I have that many things to do on the 2 SN2001's I imported I constantly change tasks at hand.
Anyway I started wet sanding my 89 the weekend. The oxidation on the maroon stripe was bad I had to go down to 400 grit is some parts to remove it. The fading or yellowing of the white where some pinstriping was next to the stripe never looked like being able to sand out. Went at it for a while with 400 grit but pulled up did not want to go through the maroon stripe as I was removing a fair bit of gel. In a couple of spots it looked as though there was a yellow colour under the maroon. Will just have to replace pinstriping the same as original pattern and some matching maroon vinyl on front & rear of deck also to cover the fading. I suppose it was a Florida boat would have seen a lot of sun. I think Pete may have been right in another post it is though the dirt has got into the gel that was exposed (gelcoat is porous?) I think keeping polish on the hull would haved help prevent this but I dont think my 89 ever seen many polishing rags. Managed to get the transom, one side and the front deck done with 600 & 800 grit over the weekend. I did use 400 in a couple of spots. Sanded the skin of my hands as well! Not much of a sheen on it yet was going to hit it with 1000 grit before compounding but I managed to buy some compounding grit that says it will remove 800 grit scratch marks will post some after pics when finished componding.  
 ------------- If you're going through hell, keep going http://www.correctcraftfan.com/diaries/details.asp?ID=2999" rel="nofollow - 89 Ski <a href="http://www.correctcraftfan.com/diaries/details.asp?ID=5685" ta |
Posted By: lewy2001
Date Posted: June-29-2008 at 11:43am
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Almost finished wetsanding & polishing hull.
There is quite a few hours involved in doing this!!! Happy with the results was not able to remove fading yellowing in areas where some graphics and pinstriping were on the hull. 
I have a few chips in bottom of transom. Would just applying gelcoat over these be the correct repair. Then more sanding. I have a few deep beaching scratches also. Do you have to spray gel or can you apply with a brush or knife to the chip and then wet sand??  ------------- If you're going through hell, keep going http://www.correctcraftfan.com/diaries/details.asp?ID=2999" rel="nofollow - 89 Ski <a href="http://www.correctcraftfan.com/diaries/details.asp?ID=5685" ta |
Posted By: BuffaloBFN
Date Posted: June-29-2008 at 2:24pm
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Ha, I know what your arm feels like! LOL
FWIW, your stripe color will probably be underneath most of the gel on the hull. The stripe itself may be very deep, but that is only speculation. I'm not sure how the factory did in when they sprayed the mould, but my dark blue stripe color is under the grey on the bottom....not sure if that is true up on the sides, but I'll probably find out?!!? LOL I used regular poly resin with lots of mil fiber mixed in to fix the places I've done so far and then sprayed gel over it. There's more to it like preping the area to be fixed and fairing it in before the gel but not that big of a deal. The mil fiber does make the sanding fun?!!? You already started the repair by getting the surrounding gel back to 'true' color! Looking good! ------------- http://correctcraftfan.com/diaries/details.asp?ID=2331&sort=&pagenum=12&yrstart=1986&yrend=1990" rel="nofollow - 1988 BFN-sold "It's a Livin' Thing...What a Terrible Thing to Lose" ELO |