Did I not sand far enough?

1988 Galaxy, I followed advice from and earlier post, trying to get the shine back on this ol girl.

I'm working on the dark blue stripe on the side. Bad oxidation, I wet sanded, 400 grit, then 800, 1000 and 2000. I power buffed with Meguiars deep cut rubbing compound and it does SHINE, haven't done the glaze yet. I've only done one side so far, the finish is glossy, I can see my reflection but, the blue is not a solid blue.

It looks kinda like a snake belly pattern, splotchy, light and dark colors, not a solid uniform patter. DId I not sand far enough?

If not, can I used a smalll hand size orbital sander with dry sand paper to get down to solid blue? What grit should I go with to get to solid blue. Then can I wet sand back out from there?

Also, is going to 2000 overkill?

Man my arm is tired...
Thanks guys!

Re: Did I not sand far enough?

Sounds to me like you've sanded too much. Possibly going into the base coat. If that's the case then it will probably need to be repainted. Picture might help clarify it some.

Re: Did I not sand far enough?

It's hard to say from the discription, if it looks similar to what you had in the begining, then you may not have sanded far enough, if the color you see is white mixed with the blue, you may have sanded too deep. It's best do a small area first to make sure you get the results you want before doing an entire side, because depending on the thickness of the gel coat, the color and how bad it's faded, there may not be enough gel coat to work with. 2000 is over kill, most of the time 600 or 800 will get the desired results, sometimes you need to go a little finer, but not that often.

Re: Did I not sand far enough?

I'm working on the dark blue stripe on the side.

Click to expand...

gcboat said:

Sounds to me like you've sanded too much. Possibly going into the base coat. If that's the case then it will probably need to be repainted....

Click to expand...

Aye, the stripe could have been painted on. Which over time will blend with the base color. Get a pinstripe tape or repaint.

Re: Did I not sand far enough?

Ok, here are some pics of what I have, very glossy finish after buffing but not a solid blue color.

Do I need to sand further, paint or just be happy it actually shines.

Thanks guys.

Re: Did I not sand far enough?

Dude your a true boater, your gel is dead. Do not dispair, you can paint that mutha and dance with glee from the result's.........this is perfect, stay tuned...

Re: Did I not sand far enough?

Ok, wow, I'm bummed. Paint it??? Is there a good article on that, how hard and expensive is it? There isn't much blue color on the boat.

Thanks guys.

Re: Did I not sand far enough?

It's not lost yet. Pick a small area to sand, use 400 or 320 grit and sand more, get aggressive and take off more gel coat, you may not have sanded deep enough the first time. Depending on how thick the gel coat is, you should be able to get down to solid blue, if you start to see a dark area (not blue) through the gel coat where you're sanding it means you're getting down to the resin and glass, so stop. The spot you pick to sand on should be where people won't see it, or a place that can be covered, this is just so it won't look odd if it starts to look different than the rest of the boat. You can't always get gel coat to look good again, but trying this won't cost you any money, just a few minutes of your time.

Re: Did I not sand far enough?

Good pics. I think that last one tells all. The pattern looks like fiberglass cloth to me. I don't think it's going to get better as you sand deeper. But like said eariler, it doesn't cost anything to find out.

Re: Did I not sand far enough?

No cloth in those boats (very few builders use cloth, as in almost none). It looks like a roving pattern, roving frequently prints through to the surface of the gel coat, but is located deep in the laminate. The reason you can see it here is the tops of the high spots have been sanded off and the low spots haven't been sanded much if any. He needs to sand more off to get down to a uniform layer of blue.

It can be difficult to tell from a small pic though.

Re: Did I not sand far enough?

Guys, THANK YOU for all the advice and encouraging words.

A few questions, I'm coming up on 4 days next week where I will have some time to dedicate to this boat. I'm at a point where I may just shine her up the best I can, drop in the new seats, tighten the windshield and sell her. She's mechanically sound but I kinda goofed and bought a cuddy, we really wanted and need an open bow with the kids. Free time is scarece for me so I really need a boat that is not a constant fixer upper. Boats can be emotional, I can honestly say I got that way when I saw this one, it's very similar to the old Larsen 21' CC I grew up on in the Missour River in NW Iowa. Great family memories etc...

So, I want to try sanding a little further. Can I dry sand with a palm sander, say 200 grit? It's a makita with a 3x3 or 4x4 pad and vibrates.
Once I figure out if I can get to solid blue then I know if it's a paint job or not. My arm is worn out!

If it is a paint job, where can I learn more? I saw some videos on youtube but can't seem to find them. Didn't look too hard, I use to paint boat bottoms in Iowa at the Marina my Dad worked at when I was in Middle and High School. I know this may take more technique, I'm confident I can do it.
Where do I buy the paint etc...

The four days I have coming up could be the best time for me to knock this out! If I had time, I'd buy an old wooden boat and restore it, love boats!

THANK YOU!!!

Re: Did I not sand far enough?

Going at it with an electric sander is almost a guarantee that you'll wind up taking off too much of the gel coat. With all the work you've put into sanding it soo smoothly by hand why not just tape it off and give it a quick spray of blue and make it look new? You could always use a spray can if you don't have a sprayer, it'll look nice enough just won't be as durable as you might like.

Re: Did I not sand far enough?

What kind of paint? Spray paint like Krylon from Lowes? or Rust Oleum?

Re: Did I not sand far enough?

Don't use a rattle can unless you just want to dump it on some poor sucker. Spray can paint is typically formulated to be cheap, dry fast and be cheap, I saw cheap twice in that discription and long lasting quality nowhere.

Sanding and buffing will cost little or no money at this point because you've already started the job, just try it a little more in a small area.

You can use a small electric palm sander and dry sand it, I rarely hand sand anything larger than a small repair. You just need to be careful and not over do it, you can sand through pretty fast, or make the surface uneven, just go slow until you get the feel of it.

If you mess it up, or you can't get the color back to where like it, you can paint it with a one part topside paint using a roller and brush, it will look very good.

Re: Did I not sand far enough?

I'd first follow Ondarvr's advice and see if there is life left, he really does have experience that few do here. However if you do paint use a good marine paint, it's really just so simple once you get a few basic's down. Iv'e been trying to get some vid's uploaded on a rolling it out and rolling it flat but that is another story... but soon it will get er done..