Restoring shine

[pangolin]

I want to restore the shine to my boat. Can someone tell me what is going on with the area in the attached picture? Look on the rail, the left side is dull and the right side has shine and you can see the dividing line. There are other spots like this too. What am I dealing with here and how do I fix it?
Thanks

 

[ondarvr]

Looks like someone repaired that area, it may or may not have matched better when it was first done, but over time a repair typically ages differently than the surrounding gel coat and the repair becomes more noticeable.

 

[pangolin]

Thanks for your input. I don't think it is a repair it is just like the shiny coat has completely faded away in some areas. Mostly areas with more sun exposure. But I could be wrong! What kind of repair are we talking about, gel coat repair?

 

[Scott Danforth]

could be gel coat repair, or it could be two different mixes of gel applied to the mold

 

[pangolin]

How do I go about fixing it? I want it to have the same gloss if it can.

 

[ondarvr]

About the only thing you can do re-spray the entire area, either with gel coat or paint, another option would be to get a vinyl wrap to cover it.

 

[ondarvr]

Actually, if you just want it to be glossy again you can buff and wax it, the color may not match, but the gloss should get better.

 

[Ianlinares]

I would think buffing out the dull area should get you your shine back

 

[pangolin]

I'll give that another shot with more patience. I bought some meguires polish and a random polisher hoping I could get the shine back. Thanks

 

[ondarvr]

What type of random polisher do you have? the typical for automotive use type don't do much, if anything, to dull gel coat, you need something a bit more aggressive.

 

[Scott Danforth]

a random orbital does nothing to gel coat except get you more pissed

get a polisher. http://www.harborfreight.com/7-inch-electronic-polisher-66615.html

start at about 1100 RPM, go up from there as needed

 

[pangolin]

Darn, I already bought this one and have used it:
http://m.harborfreight.com/10-in-random-orbital-polisher-61898.html