oxidation

[teds1]

hi all... i am attempting to remove oxidation on an 1986 sunray. i have followed a lot of the posts re.. wet sand... polishing compound etc... but no luck.. finish does not look good... i am thinking of trying the comet method from one of the posts... and if that doesnt work i guess vertglass...<br />i have given it a lot of elbow grease... very frustrating...any more sugestions would be appreciated...

 

[salty87]

Re: oxidation

have any pics? unless the gel coat is too thin, you should be able to get the faded layer off.<br /><br />using an electric buffer?<br /><br />i think you need a good surface to go the vertglass route too.

 

[teds1]

Re: oxidation

no pictures yet.. i tried a couple of other products.. by far my best luck is with the 3m super duty rubbing compound... however i guess the oxidation is so bad that it will not bring it back all the way.... <br />the 3m stuff worked better than the wet sanding also... that surprised me.. but the stuff is really gritty...<br />yes i used an electric buffer but my arms are still aching ...<br />maybe i will try vertglass next year and see how that works...<br />an aside you really dont know how many dings and gouges you have until you get up and personal... my next quest to fill some gouges in the gel coat... the fun just never ends....

 

[aspeck]

Re: oxidation

teds1 - I had no luck with my old sled - it would look great for about 1 week then the oxidation would come back with a vengence. about 2 years ago I broke down and did the vertglass thing. Minor touch-up last fall, still looks great. I am very pleased with the product, and not as much work as all the rubbing, using a buffer, wet sanding, etc that I tried before.<br /><br />BTW, mine boat is maroon and 20+ years old. Now with the vertglass finish it only looks about 5 years old (yea, it isn't perfect, but a lot better than it was and I am pleased).

 

[mattttt25]

Re: oxidation

very surpirsed the wet sanding didn't work. that's usually the last step. how did you do it? did you use plenty of water, sanding block, and very fine grit? i wet sanded my transom this year- used a sanding block to keep it flat, 3m fine sand paper (1500 and 2000 grit), and lots of water. took me over 3 hrs just to do the transom, but it turned out awesome. not too tiring, either- very easy back and forth motion, very little friction from all the water. but it slowly took off material and polished the gel.

 

[WaterBug81]

Re: oxidation

Try Wizards Products...they have some awesome stuff!! Turbo Cut is good for gel coat or marine fiberglass. Also Shine Master works awesome.<br /><br />We took 3M Perfect It 3 Rubbing Compound to our 84 Checkmate, and it spiffed right up...it went from a dull oxidized white-gray to the original Metalflake Black.

 

[adamk523]

Re: oxidation

How many RPMs was the buffer you used, and what type of buffing pad was on it. You will need a High speed buffer with a wool bonnet and some 3m Rubbing Compound. Use a paint brush to dab the compound on the hull. Then using the buffer, spread the compound. Keep the buffer moving. It is possible to remove all of the gelcoat if you buff in one spot too long. The gelcoat should look decent. Follow up with a good Caruba wax. Wet sanding does the same thing, but takes a lot of work.