White marks on the Cowling

[kanuck564]

Hey all,

I bought a boat this spring and I have a 90 Merc on it (quite awesome!). The problem is I'm getting white marks/scratches on the cowling from everyday use.

Does anyone know of a polish or rub of some sort, perhaps any other way to get rid of these white blemishes on my Black cowling?

Much appreciated

Kanuck564

 

[fisherman81654]

Re: White marks on the Cowling

You may try some light rubbing compound,comes in a small round can at just about any automotive store or possibly walmart.
Get you an old towel,tear a piece off,wet it a little and dip it in the compound,then rub as hard as you need to in a circluar motion until gone.
A buffer is much easer.

 

[Texasmark]

Re: White marks on the Cowling

If it is a 3 cyl 90 HP the majority of the cowl is vinyl decal which can be scratched (off) easily. The top is about the only place not consumed in vinyl.

On that you would have to fill in the holes which would be much deeper (several mils) than scratching off a few microns of paint as you would do if it all were painted. I don't have my cowl in front of me so I can't say as to whether or not the cowl (minus the decals) is black gel coated glass or Phantom Black spray on a FG cowl. As slick as it is I'm inclined to believe it's gel coat and that would respond well to polishing with a polish made for the material.

I'll be out in the shop later today and I'll pop my cowl and look it over, then get back on here and edit this post.

HTH,

Mark

 

[kanuck564]

Re: White marks on the Cowling

Texasmark - Did you mean 4cyl 90HP? I'm sure you did. Polishing seems to be the answer if it is a gel coat - yes? It doesn't seem to be a decal - it's a 2010 if that helps.

It looks like the white marks you get from bending or creasing plastic so I'm a little weary if polishing will work or not but i'll try it out.

Do you guys have any suggestions as far as products for this application, or is it going to be a hit and miss kinda thing in the autobody isle.

Fisherman- do you know the name of the compound you mentioned?


Thanks

Adam

 

[will941s]

Re: White marks on the Cowling

The cowel is painted with enamal, So it's pretty thin paint.. Alot thinner than the coats they put on the mid and lower. Heres what you do:

If you can feel the scratch your fingernail, like there is a ledge there, then you have to fill it....it's too deep to buff. Fill it with black Auto touch up paint, when it gets tacky, rub it lightly with a little paint thinner to smooth it out, then rub it with buffing compound to get a little shine on it. After that give it a good Wax/buff to blend it in.

If it's just a scuff, there is still paint there. Buff it with compound til it smooths out, then wax the crap out of it.

All the above should be FINE to MEDIUM compound....do not not get rough compound or you will be wet sanding to get the scratches out.

Tip #1...go to harbor freight and get a cheap buffer. Get wool pads and foam pads for it. Wool at about 1500 RPM's with compound to get scratches out of motor and out of gel-coat on the boat hull. Buff motor LIGHTLY or you burn the paint off. Buff Gel-coat as long as you want to get the shine back.

Tip #2...Use the foam pad for waxing after the wool pad and compound. Run the foam pad at about 3000 RPM's with wax to make gel-coat shine. Same with motor....just keep the buffer moving to keep motor paint from getting hot and burning. Will make it shine like brand new.

Tip #3...Keep wax coated on your whole rig, it'll keep the gel-coat from oxidizing and shiny, and keep the motor looking like brand new. Also it will make it alot harder to scratch the finish.

 

[will941s]

Re: White marks on the Cowling

FYI: ANY BRAND WORKS GREAT, Mothers is my choice. you HAVE to get compound AND wax. Compound is a abrasive, it wears paint down to blend imperfections. Wax restores the shine the compound takes way.

 

[fisherman81654]

Re: White marks on the Cowling

Curious also how you got the white/scratchs in the first place,would like to se a picture of what you are dealing with.
As will941s said, if you can feel the scratch,It has to be filled in.
Anything you (fill in),will later dry (down)
So knowing this,after full cure is achieved (which could take months),the area where the scratch was/or is,still needs to be wet sanded (lightly)with 1500 grit paper untill the area were scratch was is blended with the original paint.
Then buff out the 1500 scratchs (gently) with swirl mark remover,then wax.
Of course the best perfection fix is repair and refinish,meaning, sand the scratch area until gone, feather surrounding areas ,prime the area, sand, prime, wet sand motor,paint color,paint three coats of clearcoat,wetsand with 1500grit,buff with medium compound to get 1500 scratchs out,buff with swirl mark remover with softer pad,wax to cover slight imperfections.

I would have thought that it being a 2010 model that it would have base coat/clear coat paint on it,Do'nt know.
If its is base/clear coat,that would explain the (white) marks which would be the clear coat and if you could not feel a scratch,then a little buffing with light or medium,(if needed) compound would take care of it.