Not sure how heavy oxidation is on my red boat

[derek4325]

I bought this checkmate boat last fall and I'm finally ready to compound and polish it. I already bought a variable speed 7" polisher and meguires 105 compound and 205 polish. A lot of the oxidation on it goes away once it gets wet (comes right back obviously) and where it doesn't go away i seem to be able to scrape some off with my fingernail. Should i move forward with the meguires 105/205? Or should i go with a different compound and polish. I was thinking maybe meguires 49? Thanks in advance

 

[Tnstratofam]

I would try with the compound first in a small area and see how it turns out. If the oxidation comes back you may have to wet sand that area first, then compound, then polish.

 

[SkaterRace]

I'll echo what has been said though I will suggest you to it right next to the motor on the transom. Not seen ever so worst case something happens no one will know but you. Which is the worst person to let know

 

[89sandman]

Have you ever used a buffer before? What type of pad are you using? I'd try a spot by hand first since you will be doing the tight spots that way I just did my boat and did most of the compound by hand. The buffer leaves a lot of clouding if you have med to heavy oxidation. Also depends on how picky you are.

 

[harringtondav]

My opinion is only one thing cuts oxidation down to clean gel coat: Wet sanding. It sounds scary, But if you're careful and sneak up on it you won't cut through the factory gel layer. Spot test with 2000 wet/dry sand paper. Use it wet. Towel dry and see if the haze returns. If so, try it again with 1600 grit. If still not good, drop to 1400-1200 grit.

Once you've cut through the haze/chalk work your way back up in finer grits. 500 grit increases per pass. I swear by Meguiars Unigrit paper. Once you've reached 3000 grit, you're ready for a hand applied polish, and factory glass finish.

 

[Grub54891]

When wetsanding, I use one of those silicone squeegees to wipe away the water and grit followed by a dry rag. Really helps to see how much further you have to go to get it down to good gel.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Red is the least UV stable of the gel coat colors. besides oxidation, your boat is now pink from UV degredation

wet sanding will remove the oxidation, however the only 3 ways to get the pink back to red will be either a vinyl wrap, paint, or re-gel coat. or you can live with the shiny pink.

if you try to sand down to good red gel, you will sand thru to the fiberglass

from my correspondence with ondarvr, here is what I do. wet sand with 400 grit, then 600 then 800, then 1000 and then use Aquabuff 2000, then follow up with 3M finesse it, then follow up with wax

 

[Zippys Gelcoat and Fiberglass Repair]

This I a 2008 yahama 23ft. Oxidation is about the same or less. I 1000 wet sand and I use 3m medium compound to buff out. I've built over 100,000 boats. From the factories. Mariah, celebrity, crowline, Sea-Doo, Godfrey. Only wet sand intil you start to see the water run red. Oxidation is white looking. So if you're looking at it while sanding you can see it. 23ft boat I did in 8 hours. I ain't no spring chicken anymore. Lol.

 

[Zippys Gelcoat and Fiberglass Repair]

And yes the stuff ya put on there wi make it look good for a minute. After your done buffing I'd get a good wax carnauba is best to wax it. Itll.look great all summer.

 

[Mischief Managed]

I struggle to understand the concept of oxidation on gel coat. I don't think oxygen does any damage to it, I think it's just sun damage.

 

[Scott Danforth]

I struggle to understand the concept of oxidation on gel coat. I don't think oxygen does any damage to it, I think it's just sun damage.

technically it is surface breakdown due to UV, chemical, exposure to environments, degassing, etc. however since the industry calls it oxidation, may as well call it oxidation.

resins such as gel have a finite life, and that is much shorter than most people want to believe.

 

[derek4325]

Red is the least UV stable of the gel coat colors. besides oxidation, your boat is now pink from UV degredation

wet sanding will remove the oxidation, however the only 3 ways to get the pink back to red will be either a vinyl wrap, paint, or re-gel coat. or you can live with the shiny pink.

if you try to sand down to good red gel, you will sand thru to the fiberglass

from my correspondence with ondarvr, here is what I do. wet sand with 400 grit, then 600 then 800, then 1000 and then use Aquabuff 2000, then follow up with 3M finesse it, then follow up with wax

Believe it or not but there is no pink! I seems like a lot if the oxidation is below the water line and its a tad faded in the areas where there would be direct sunlight. Just starting to finish up the larger areas with the buffer in between beers (not over working myself on this lol) compounding is almost done in larger areas with a wool pad, the polish will go on after with a black foam finishing pad. Im finally starting to get a feel for this and thanks for the input guys! Its coming out already a million times better, i will post some pics of the progress later. Very deep red, i love it!

 

[crazy charlie]

Derek,that looks more like one of those "miracle" coatings that was applied to the hull to cover the oxidation and temporarily look better.Oxidation does not scrape off as you described.I purchased a blue hull Regal some years ago and it looked totally oxidized so I almost passed on buying it.I looked at a few of the same boat and all oxidized.I looked closely at the gelcoat with a magnifying glass.The hull that was repeatedly compounded and buffed out had tiny pore holes in the gelcoat from being worn down/off from attempts to remove oxidation.The only way to see the pore holes is under magnification.The boat I eventually purchased ,had oxidized but virgin gelcoat burried under layer upon layer of wipe on "miracle" coatings .Thanks god the previous owner took the shortcut of wiping on various coatings which preserved the gelcoat.I polished it off with a rotary buffing wheel using no compounds or wet sanding at all,just Starbrite marine polish.The hull came out amazing.I was complimented on that boat all of the time.So my recommendation is to start simple with polish and cross your fingers you have the same situation that I had.BTW I also put a coat of Formula 303 as a topcoat after polishing.Charlie

 

[derek4325]

Derek,that looks more like one of those "miracle" coatings that was applied to the hull to cover the oxidation and temporarily look better.Oxidation does not scrape off as you described.I purchased a blue hull Regal some years ago and it looked totally oxidized so I almost passed on buying it.I looked at a few of the same boat and all oxidized.I looked closely at the gelcoat with a magnifying glass.The hull that was repeatedly compounded and buffed out had tiny pore holes in the gelcoat from being worn down/off from attempts to remove oxidation.The only way to see the pore holes is under magnification.The boat I eventually purchased ,had oxidized but virgin gelcoat burried under layer upon layer of wipe on "miracle" coatings .Thanks god the previous owner took the shortcut of wiping on various coatings which preserved the gelcoat.I polished it off with a rotary buffing wheel using no compounds or wet sanding at all,just Starbrite marine polish.The hull came out amazing.I was complimented on that boat all of the time.So my recommendation is to start simple with polish and cross your fingers you have the same situation that I had.BTW I also put a coat of Formula 303 as a topcoat after polishing.Charlie

Thank you for the input, Charlie. Its looking as if that is the case. Though i am using a cutting compound followed by a polish the results are in return very similar. The cutting compound may in fact be a tad overkill but at this point ill stick to what's working. Cutting compound followed by polish, followed by 3M marine paste wax. So far i really like the results

 

[Lou C]

I went thru this with our '88 F/W, it was originally burgundy but faded to pink. No amount of wet sanding, buffing etc would give a lasting good result. So back in '12 I had it painted in red Imron and it still looks great. Next boat will be WHITE! lol.

 

[Scott Danforth]

I ended up completely changing the gel coat of my boat to take care of the pink

Before


After

 

[kpg7121]

Red Starcraft Medalist oxidized. Washed, dried, wiped down with Vaseline, buffed using microfiber cloths, then waxed. Laugh if you want, it works. Did mine last season & it still shines.

 

[QBhoy]

Hi
this is a much discussed topic her in the harsh environment of Scotland.
Having had a few boats that are typically well known for this (like bayliners etc) it a real problem because the colour isn’t actually right through the gel (like my current campion).
That said. Hope is not lost. My friend recently discovered an amazing way of getting the colour to stay fresh and shiny.
He used the megiars oxidation remover and then coated it with an insulator wax which is actually used to coat High voltage equipment. It’s lasted a year already and as shiny as the day it was done. I was amazed by it after many failed attempts over the years with my old boats. They always lasted a day looking good then back to fade

 

[derek4325]

Pictures don't do it justice but here is the finished product! Finished off with a good 3M paste wax. Boat still isnt perfect and some of the oxidation came back in the previously heavy spots but its below the water line and i can deal with that.

 

[Tnstratofam]

I think it turned out great. Nice work.