gelcoat restoration

81_chapparel194 · Jan 30, 2013

i am looking into a gelcoat restoration product i was thinking about the meguiars 3 step fiberglass resto kit.. it has an oxidation remover, polish, and sealer wax. anyone else use this? or reccomend another product?

Yacht Dr. · Jan 30, 2013

Re: gelcoat restoration

81_chapparel194 said:
i am looking into a gelcoat restoration product i was thinking about the meguiars 3 step fiberglass resto kit.. it has an oxidation remover, polish, and sealer wax. anyone else use this? or reccomend another product?

Yup .. a high speed rotary buffer and loads of elbow grease should do fine.

There is no 3 step resto kit that you can buy unless your going to bust your nuts and bolts trying to get that back. ..

YD.

81_chapparel194 · Jan 30, 2013

Re: gelcoat restoration

Yacht Dr. said:
Yup .. a high speed rotary buffer and loads of elbow grease should do fine.

There is no 3 step resto kit that you can buy unless your going to bust your nuts and bolts trying to get that back. ..

YD.

MeguiarsDirect.com:Fiberglass Restoration System Fiberglass Restoration System according to meguiars there is. my question is has anyone actually used this with good results?

ondarvr · Jan 30, 2013

Re: gelcoat restoration

Will it work...maybe.

Each boat will be different, some respond well to buffing and others need sanding, then on others nothing helps much. So if someone said it worked great it may have no bearing on how well it will work for you.

Try the stuff you linked or something you can pick up locally on a small area to see what gives you the desired result.

Always use a low speed buffer, you don't want to go over about 2,800 RPM.

Friscoboater · Jan 31, 2013

Re: gelcoat restoration

I made a video on how to do this. It is how to remove a scratch, but it will be the same concept all over the boat.

Yacht Dr. · Jan 31, 2013

Re: gelcoat restoration

81_chapparel194 said:
MeguiarsDirect.com:Fiberglass Restoration System Fiberglass Restoration System according to meguiars there is. my question is has anyone actually used this with good results?

I can say for sure that I have never used this system.

I can say for sure that a typical 20' boat will take more than that kit.

A quart of 3m Imperial compound and a 3m wool buff pad will cure most things on most boats ( Including Paint jobs ). .. Some paint jobs might be better to use the Yellow double buff pads from 3m.

Its a Market for Boats out there .. Use the best for finishing IMHO ..

friscoboater said:
I made a video on how to do this. It is how to remove a scratch, but it will be the same concept all over the boat.

I like your postings .. but this time its kinda out of Norm for gel. You Might use this method for a Painted or Cleared boat .. but not for Gel.

1500 grit for a final sand before buffing on gel is kinda too much. Your treating it like a Paint job.

I can tell you this .. Your little BlacknDecker you show in your vid .. I would Smoke that thing in about 5 minutes of buffing out a hull. Get a Real buffer and you have more control.

Nix 1500 grit .. dont need that. 800 will do just fine.

Remember folks .. its Gel .. not Paint. You can treat gel aggressively .. not soft hands.

YD.

81_chapparel194 · Feb 1, 2013

Re: gelcoat restoration

friscoboater said:
I made a video on how to do this. It is how to remove a scratch, but it will be the same concept all over the boat.

i saw some technique there, and patience.. my boat hull is (was) WHITE. now its a dingy dull white. i tried some buffing compound this afternoon with NO luck. should i skip to wetsanding with 1000 grit? then get less course? i really want this boat to shine again. maybe it just wont. its an 81 chapparrel 19.4 ft obviously a long job but well worth it if it will shine again. maybe its too far gone. it doesnt leave chalky residue on your hand if you wipe it but it "looks" chalky.. is it possible to have gel too far gone to ressurect? the cap is nowhere near as bad as the sides. go figure i bought this boat back in august. i am almost attempted to spray the thing with acrylic enamel or basecoat clear coat and be done with it. for the naysayers a friend of mine painted his boat with acrylic enamel and it looks wonderful still 4 years later. but if i am going through the trouble to sand the boat i am half way to a shine without spraying. i dont care about the time as the firsr thing folks say is its gonna take a lot of time,, well brotha i have lots of time and little money so if time sis the issue i have no issue.

TilliamWe · Feb 2, 2013

Re: gelcoat restoration

81_chapparel194 said:
i am looking into a gelcoat restoration product i was thinking about the meguiars 3 step fiberglass resto kit.. it has an oxidation remover, polish, and sealer wax. anyone else use this? or reccomend another product?

I used it last summer on my sister's black and grey CHAPARRAL 2350, with GREAT results. But it was A LOT of TIME and EFFORT. Rotary buffer is a MUST for the hullsides, in my opinion. I recommend the product.

Thalasso · Feb 2, 2013

Re: gelcoat restoration

Yacht Dr.

:facepalm::facepalm::facepalm::facepalm::facepalm:

Why do you have to be so critical about everything? Frisco is only trying to help. Nothing good to say don't say anything. Save us all the grief.

Yacht Dr. · Feb 2, 2013

Re: gelcoat restoration

Thalasso said:
Yacht Dr.

:facepalm::facepalm::facepalm::facepalm::facepalm:

Why do you have to be so critical about everything? Frisco is only trying to help. Nothing good to say don't say anything. Save us all the grief.

Um.. you mean my post ?

Yacht Dr. said:
I can say for sure that I have never used this system.

I can say for sure that a typical 20' boat will take more than that kit.

A quart of 3m Imperial compound and a 3m wool buff pad will cure most things on most boats ( Including Paint jobs ). .. Some paint jobs might be better to use the Yellow double buff pads from 3m.

Its a Market for Boats out there .. Use the best for finishing IMHO ..

I like your postings .. but this time its kinda out of Norm for gel. You Might use this method for a Painted or Cleared boat .. but not for Gel.

1500 grit for a final sand before buffing on gel is kinda too much. Your treating it like a Paint job.

I can tell you this .. Your little BlacknDecker you show in your vid .. I would Smoke that thing in about 5 minutes of buffing out a hull. Get a Real buffer and you have more control.

Nix 1500 grit .. dont need that. 800 will do just fine.

Remember folks .. its Gel .. not Paint. You can treat gel aggressively .. not soft hands.

YD.

I dont know where I was coming off as too critical ..I was just telling it like it is

.

I stand by my words ..

Have you Ever buffed out a hull before using the cheap BD polisher ? I think not

YD.

Merc4ever · Feb 2, 2013

Re: gelcoat restoration

I used coarse rubbing compound on my old Baja and worked my way to a fine polish using a good quality Millwakee buffer used by pros. It was a old boat with lots of sun damage and it looked much better even though some spots I had to buff it down till you could see through the color. I even hit mettalic spots that must of been overspray in the Baja factory because it was not mettalic.

ondarvr · Feb 3, 2013

Re: gelcoat restoration

You may need to sand it, try a small area and see what works. If 1000 doesn't do it try 800, then 600 and 400 in that order, always use the finest paper that will do the job because there will be less work involved to get the gloss back. On some gel coats you can buff 600 grit scratches out easily, on others you need to go finer. As I said before, it can be different on every boat.

Yacht Dr. · Feb 3, 2013

Re: gelcoat restoration

ondarvr said:
You may need to sand it, try a small area and see what works. If 1000 doens't do it try 800, then 600 and 400 in that order, always use the finest paper that will do the job because there will be less work involved to get the gloss back. On some gel coats you can buff 600 grit scatches out easily, on others you need to go finer. As I said before, it can be different on every boat.

Right now ondarvr .. am I missing something in the gel coat restoration or repair ?

In your personal opinion .. would you go after a gel repair or hull buff job with that little kiddy BD toy ?

Just in your Personal Opinion .. ..

YD.

Merc4ever · Feb 3, 2013

Re: gelcoat restoration

You do know there's different kinds of buffing compounds don't you? If rubbing compound made it dull it's the rough kind you used now you need final polish to make it shiny again. If I was going to paint my boat I would get a gelcoat sprayer and spray it with gelcoat like you're suppose to. That's just me I like to do things right the first time.

81_chapparel194 · Feb 3, 2013

Re: gelcoat restoration

Merc4ever said:
You do know there's different kinds of buffing compounds don't you? If rubbing compound made it dull it's the rough kind you used now you need final polish to make it shiny again. If I was going to paint my boat I would get a gelcoat sprayer and spray it with gelcoat like you're suppose to. That's just me I like to do things right the first time.

no its dull from uv damage... not from rubbing compound. it doesnt need repainting.. just a new shine put on.

salty87 · Feb 4, 2013

Re: gelcoat restoration

81_chapparel194 said:
i tried some buffing compound this afternoon with NO luck.

technique is important as well as the tools you're using. rubbing compound will loosen the surface of the gel coat. you need to work the area enough so that the grimy layer lifts off and you expose the gel underneath. the type of compound you're using makes a difference too. some work better than others on particular hulls. all boats are not made identically the same.

you're getting it good when you can see your hull color all over the ground and trailer. you need to clean the bonnet frequently or you're just smearing grime around. tell us more about your process and let's see some pics of the boat.

ondarvr · Feb 4, 2013

Re: gelcoat restoration

Yacht Dr. said:
Right now ondarvr .. am I missing something in the gel coat restoration or repair ?

In your personal opinion .. would you go after a gel repair or hull buff job with that little kiddy BD toy ?

Just in your Personal Opinion .. ..

YD.

I'm not sure what you are asking in the "missing something" portion, other than my poorly worded part about using different grits. As in starting with a fine grit to see if it will remove the defect before going to a coarser grit.

On the buffer... if it holds up long enough to finish the job then its fine for DIY use, it would probably hold up for many years doing the odd repair or buffing the hull.

Keithstone · Feb 16, 2013

Re: gelcoat restoration

friscoboater said:
I made a video on how to do this. It is how to remove a scratch, but it will be the same concept all over the boat.

Liked the video, question on my boat i have a 1989 Javelin it is two toned on top and bottom. On the top side of the bumper guard is black then into a silver stripe into a red (well what is suppose to be red) with a metallic flack. The top side of the boat has a deep oxidation which i am fixing to start trying to remover with a 3m rubbing compound , but the red is almost a dark pink look is there any suggestions you can give me on bringing that back close to its normal color or is it to far gone.

25thmustang · Feb 17, 2013

Re: gelcoat restoration

I used the Meguiar's kit with my good rotary buffer and dual action buffer (used a combination of both). It looked really nice for a neglected chalky hull.

I used "buff magic" and their pro polish on the Silverton. This system also seemed to work well.

gelcoat restoration

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