Clear Coat

JoeWall

Cadet
Joined
Jul 21, 2016
Messages
16
I have a 1986 Bumble Bee bass boat. The top sparkle paint has faded on the top of the boat, not the gel coat. I am wanting to put a new clear coat on it and I am curious what I should use? I have put a clear coat on a car before and was curious if I could use the same clear coat for the boat? If not what clear should I use.
 

ondarvr

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Apr 6, 2005
Messages
11,527
You said it's "sparkle paint" are you sure it's not metal flake gel coat, which is what most bass boats use?

Clear top coats don't tend to hold up that long over faded metal flake gel coat, but will possibly make it look better for a while.

​Use a cheap rattle can clear to see what it will look like before deciding what to do. This can be washed off with acetone if you don't like it, or before doing all of it with a better product.
 

Blind Date

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Mar 5, 2014
Messages
462
Have you tried compound buffing and/or wet sanding to bring it back?
 

harleyman1975

Ensign
Joined
May 12, 2003
Messages
959
If just faded it should be sanded with 600 and then 1000 and polished with super duty compound to see if it will come back to life.
 

gm280

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Jun 26, 2011
Messages
14,585
Usually when a boat has faded and turned foggy, the gel coat is gone. And the only way to ever get it back is either sanding in preparation for paint, or gel coat refinish. Knowing how the original gel coat was first laid down, you can see how much problem it would be to try and make the original coat come back. But try some things for yourself and see what you think. It is worth the effort. JMHO
 

jbcurt00

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 25, 2011
Messages
24,829
Before recommending a course of action, I'd ask

Where the clear coat is gone, can you feel the rough edges of the metal flake?

Is all the clear gone?

Unless re-sprayed by someone, the original clear IS Gelcoat clear over a metal flake gelcoat. Clear gelcoat does fail and peel, but not like automotive clear does.

If its got automotive type clear coat on it, someone has probably sprayed it to try and make it look better, and that has failed (it often does).

How about posting some pix of what you're seeing?
 

JoeWall

Cadet
Joined
Jul 21, 2016
Messages
16
No Title

These are a few pictures of the boat. The top where the light blue sparkle is what I am talking about. I have wet sanded and used a bit of compound and it did not do much but I could have done more. Just curious thoughts on restoring the shimmer.
 

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frantically relaxing

Senior Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Nov 19, 2011
Messages
699
Under your kitchen sink, do you have a can of Comet, or Ajax, or Barkeepers Friend, or some other cleanser? If so, take it, a small towel and a bowl of water out to the boat-- wet the rag, and shake enough cleanser on to make a little mud. Now rub a 6" square area hard for about 15 seconds--

If it doesn't help, or you can feel the slivers of the metalflake in the rag, it's too far gone for polsihing--

But if you get a shine, then all you need to do is get some rubbing compound, or just keep using the cleanser, and keep polishing.

FWIW, I rub out my gelcoat with liquid BarKeepers Friend... works just as good as any polish or compound and it's less than $3 a bottle.
I follow up with Dri Wash-n-guard. No silicone or wax ever touches my gelcoat.
 

Suzi55Jet

Seaman Apprentice
Joined
Jun 1, 2011
Messages
33
Joe. I'm a car painter. Someone mentioned 600 grit, then 1000 grit. Personally, I feel that is way too aggressive. Ant it may worsen the problem. Try spraying windex on it in direct sunlight. When you do that, does it look like new? Or does it still look crappy? If it looks new, you probably have enough original clear gelcoat to wetsand and polish. If it looks crappy, it will have to be re coated. Automotive clear does not stick well to gelcoat of fiberglass. You really should use gelcoat and find someone who knows what to do with it. It's pretty nasty stuff. If I were going to try to wetsand and buff it, I would start with 1500 grit, wet and soapy and finish off with 2000 and then buff. But, if you don't have a sufficient thickness of original gelcoat on it, you are wasting your time and only causing further damage because you are sanding into your color and not your clear. Color won't polish. You can use automotive clear coat but you'll need to keep the boat out of the sun and covered to get it to stay put and it still won't last forever.
 

gm280

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Jun 26, 2011
Messages
14,585
I have to agree with Suzi55Jet. I just finished repairing a rear panel on my Blazer. And wet sanding with 2000 grit is all I did before polishing with 3M polishing compounds. I primed, painted and then clear coated the panel with a couple clear coats. Then after curing I used a small rubber flat block and 2000 grit sandpaper and water to take the gloss off the panel and to flatten out any imperfections. Then using a Makita variable speed buffer set at about 1400 RPMs. I used 3M polishing compounds and it looks amazing. Not hard to do and the results are great as well.
 

Suzi55Jet

Seaman Apprentice
Joined
Jun 1, 2011
Messages
33
Then after curing I used a small rubber flat block and 2000 grit sandpaper and water to take the gloss off the panel and to flatten out any imperfections. .

That's the key. You'll never see a good painter wet-sand without a block. Sand paper is a cutting tool and it needs to be backed with a block for a quality finish and to help insure you don't sand through our clear. Even sanding a radius should be done with a block 99% of the time. I'm linking a sanding block that's probably owned by every car painter in the country. Probably all most people will ever need in sanding block for sanding clears..
 

Blind Date

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Mar 5, 2014
Messages
462
Try wet sanding and buffing first. Not a paint made as tough as the original gelcote.






 
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