Will my gelcoat shine again?
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=1510
Printed Date: January-16-2025 at 5:07pm
Topic: Will my gelcoat shine again?
Posted By: Tate
Subject: Will my gelcoat shine again?
Date Posted: April-22-2005 at 5:27pm
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Pulled the stepping pads of of my boat today to buff with oxidation remover. What a difference. The gelcoat under them was perfect after I washed the dirt off. It looked brand new. I didn't know that my gelcoat was all that rough until I saw it. Is there a way to ever achieve this new shine again? I've got Meguire's HD oxidation remover and it's doing a fair job but the shine remains hidden. On a side note; will muratic acid dissolve my decals? Any help would really be appreciated. Thanks, Tate. ------------- Tate |
Replies:
Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: April-23-2005 at 5:47am
| No solvents bro. Get a rotary buffer or borrow one if you have access to one. Start with a Meguires wool w7000 pad and some dimond cut compound or the heavy you have. I use the dimond cut. This is a clay based product that will start out very course them break down to a finer and finer as yu buff. Use at recomended rpms. This will give you the deep luster that you need. Then go over it with a medium polish and a foam pad to smooth out all the swirl marks. Then....wax the hell out of it! Run painters tape over the decals so not to burn them or just go really light. New decals are also really cheap. I think you can replace the stripes and the rear flags for $400. You got a new boat. Three stage buff. Don't just wax over that stuff. A clean start is the key to a deep shine. good luck. |
Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: April-23-2005 at 12:29pm
| I used a product called poli-glow on my 76 century see some before and after pics here. http://www.pbase.com/jhlewis/boat If your boat can be buffed out go for it. But if its beyond repair or you are just lazy like me try poli-glow. No more waxing ever just a maintence coat once a year. The whole kit cost me $52 I only used 1/2 of it for the whole boat. |
Posted By: GottaSki
Date Posted: April-23-2005 at 12:52pm
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Thick Wool Pad w/ 3m Super duty compund, then good quality fine cut cleaner after washing the pad and boat, then wax.
Heavy ox desires a var speed sander/grinder, not those silly buffers. ------------- "There is nothing, absolutely nothing, half so much worthwhile as messing around with boats...simply messing." River Rat to Mole |
Posted By: Dallas
Date Posted: April-24-2005 at 2:29am
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Porter Cable orbital sander is the king of shine for the neopro detailer. Here is a link to detailing tips and techniques. I use 3M perfectit II then 3M Glaze. The pad you use realy plays a huge factor into how much cutting the product does. Polish will make the finish dull as it removes scratches and oxidation, the glaze brings back the Shine. Post a question to this site for some high quality feed back; I am sure there are some boat owners subscribing to it.
http://forums.roadfly.org/forums/detailing/ I hope this helps. Dallas http://forums.roadfly.org/forums/detailing/ - Neo Pro Detailers site |
Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: May-14-2005 at 3:21am
| yes! cut with the wool then use the polishing compounds. Grinders, Sanders? Are we refinishing or polishing? Wool, foam, wax. 3M glazes are waterbased right? Does that mean that they wash off? TEFLON is the final stage for me. Grime washes right off. It's non-stick. |
Posted By: GottaSki
Date Posted: May-14-2005 at 12:08pm
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Well, yes, a sander/grinder..for heavy jobs.
But I concur; a boat that was always well maintained may never need that power. Mine is a Milwaukee var speed. This 23 year old boat had an abused chalk-white hull and serious decal-shadows. The gloss is better than the pic indicates But Beware, its not a CC.. 
 ------------- "There is nothing, absolutely nothing, half so much worthwhile as messing around with boats...simply messing." River Rat to Mole |
Posted By: raygunclan
Date Posted: May-17-2005 at 12:57pm
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you guys should check out
http://www.pbase.com/jhlewis/boat that's the link that jeff (from above) posted of his boat that he used poli glow on! holy crap! if all he did was apply it, where do i sign up????? ------------- who needs a mortgage when you have a boat!?!? |
Posted By: 66altyllskier
Date Posted: July-05-2005 at 2:48pm
| Looks great Jeff! We have a very oxodized 66 Al tyll skier and have tried almost everything. I think I will give the poly-glow a shot before having to shell out for a new gelcoat. |
Posted By: kenny g
Date Posted: July-05-2005 at 5:21pm
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call FIBRE GLAST developments corporation.
1-800-821-3283. order 1lb step one mold polish #01102-A and one lb of the step two polish #01103-A you wont beleave it till you see it work on nasty gelcoat. they shipped me both cans for $37.85. it's just as easy as waxing your truck[twice]when you complete step two,just finish with your favorite wax.i used meguires. and because i'm lazy i spent $ 200+ for a milwaukee buffer,but you can do it by hand and get good results ------------- kenny g |
Posted By: 80nauts
Date Posted: July-06-2005 at 4:53am
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Dude this is what I did and I can't Believe the difference.
1) bought this buffer for $25 http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=46507 2) Used your 3M HD ox remover to remove my old lettering. 3) Used 3M fine cut to buff the whole boat. 4) Used 3M Glaze to protect your gel coat and shine like crazy. Amazing results. I should probrably put some wax ontop of the glaze, but havn't yet. I swear my boat was stored in Hell for the past 10 years and would have never thought it would look this good. Just remember that old CC's supposedly have thick Gel Coat; I think they can always come back to life. Last Advice to give is to use the buffer correctly. I have seen another CC in which the beffer was used more on an angle rather than flat on the boat surface and now it has a lot of divits in the coat. |
Posted By: SkiLew
Date Posted: July-13-2005 at 4:30pm
| Hey, has anyone tried to wet sand their boat first if the oxidation is heavy? I have heard that this works well for boats that are heavily oxidized. |
Posted By: GottaSki
Date Posted: July-13-2005 at 5:08pm
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Yes,
I used wet sanding to cut heavy oxidation and level and remove the ghost image of old lettering. Glass exposed to sun and some neglect, and glass covered by vinyl can get the same compound treatment and wax, and look the same at first, but the glass that saw exposure for 20 years will oxidize at a faster rate and look crummy quicker than the newly exposed stuff, making the old image reappear. I summize the UV damage goes deeper than the surface, and hastens the future oxidation, sometimes requiring heavy-cut compound every year. My experience is wet sanding heavy oxidation before compounding produces a longer-lasting finish, that can be maintained with less work (yearly buffer-waxing and ocassional light-cut cleaner then wax every-other year.) Without the initial wet-sanding, compounding/wax was a yearly job. ------------- "There is nothing, absolutely nothing, half so much worthwhile as messing around with boats...simply messing." River Rat to Mole |
Posted By: 66altyllskier
Date Posted: August-01-2005 at 11:50pm
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Wow, ordered my poly-glow almost a month ago and I'd love to tell you how great it is...but I don't have it yet :-(
The company I ordered it from still shows my order as processing. Guess I'll be polishing this winter :-) oh well... |
Posted By: woodboy
Date Posted: February-27-2006 at 7:52pm
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This may have been already stated but where do you order polyglow? ------------- Lake Livin' Rocks |
Posted By: jhlewis10
Date Posted: March-03-2006 at 12:02pm
| Here you go http://www.myboatstore.com/ |
Posted By: BrentAL
Date Posted: August-16-2006 at 1:22pm
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[QUOTE=66altyllskier] Wow, ordered my poly-glow almost a month ago and I'd love to tell you how great it is...but I don't have it yet :-(
Did you ever get your order? How did Poli Glow work? Brent ------------- 96 sn 196 |
Posted By: 66altyllskier
Date Posted: August-18-2006 at 9:31pm
| I ordered from FIBRE GLAST, I did get it after a couple months and a phone call, must have been out of stock. Ended up doing motor work this year (and a kitchen remodel) so never got around to it, but plan on using it soon, will post when I do. |