fiberglass/restoration paint?

[jerryb1]

I have a 1980 Searay . The white fiberglass above the rub rail and the fiberglass in the floor etc in the rear of the boat has turned yellowish from age. i tried all sorts of cleaners to restore the white with no success. Can it be painted with an epovy paint or other that would look good.
Thanks

 

[Chris1956]

Re: fiberglass/restoration paint?

Jerry, It can be painted. Why not try to clean it up using a course rubbing compound. Try some liquid rubbing compound and a power buffer. My maroon SeaRay was all kinds of faded. It took a bit of elbow grease, but it polished up prety good.

 

[jerryb1]

Re: fiberglass/restoration paint?

Thanks- I havn't tried rubbing compound, I'll give it a try.

 

[thinksun]

Re: fiberglass/restoration paint?

Compound works good for light damage. Wet sand to remove heavy damaged (yellow) gelcoat. Depending on how bad it is a combination of grits like 300, 400, 600, 800, 1000 and end with 1500. Polish with angle grinder polisher and foam pad at 2000 rpm using Meguires fine polishing compound. The deck side can be done in a day for a small runabout (or 2 if first time) and will look awsome for white gelcoat. Apply your favorite finish protectant.

Metal flake gelcoat is different and IMO requires a clearcoat refinish if gel is damaged badly.

Paint is costly, difficult and results are usually not what you expect for the do-it-yourselfer. Lots of good results posted here for Interlux though.

A tip for wet sanding is to always soak sandpaper in water for 20 minutes first.