Buffing an older boat for shine.

[canoe fisherman]

Helol everyone, I recently spent an entire weekend working old my old boat. I am looking at getting a new one soon but hate for this old girl to look like she is not taken care of. I started sanding with 480 grit paper, then 1000 , then wet sanded with 1000 and then wet sanded with 2000 grit paper. I then used a polishing compound that said safe for fiberglass and polished and buffed for about 3 hours doing small sections at a time. I them followed that up with 2 coats of wax. It looks great as far as the shine but the 36 year old boat doesn't have very much color left in places. I am just wanting to see if there are any suggestions out there or just be glad she floats...

 

[porthos33]

Have you just gone all the way through the gel coat in spots? Maybe get some gel coat and try to mix colors to match yours and then sand , buff, wax. I'm about to wet sand mine, reinforce the transom, and reinforce the floor and redo the carpet. Can't wait to get it all done.

 

[canoe fisherman]

no, I may not have sanded enough... just added pic to original post

 

[porthos33]

It looks great. The more you fine sand the better shine you will get. The gel coat on the old boats was pretty thick. Heck my shoulder has been bothering me, so I just need to go ahead and bring my boat over to you since all the supplies are out and ready!!

 

[canoe fisherman]

the next issue to address will be the white section under rub rail towards the back, previous owner tried to use a drill powered pump to empty fuel tank and it sparked and caught gas can on fire and bubbled the gel-coat as well as trailer step damage. so they painted over it with pool paint.... repels water but looks bad.

 

[northlight9]

Impressive job.

 

[canoe fisherman]

porthos33 - 1/30/2017 11:33 PM

It looks great. The more you fine sand the better shine you will get. The gel coat on the old boats was pretty thick.  Heck my shoulder has been bothering me, so I just need to go ahead and bring my boat over to you since all the supplies are out and ready!! 

uuuhhhhhhh......... NO !!!! LOL emoTskTsk emoTskTsk

 

[porthos33]

Did you take off the Hydro-sport graphics to wet sand?

 

[canoe fisherman]

No, wet sanded them as well to brighten them up

 

[M GO BLUE]

canoe fisherman - 1/30/2017 10:45 PM

Helol everyone, I recently spent an entire weekend working old my old boat. I am looking at getting a new one soon but hate for this old girl to look like she is not taken care of. I started sanding with 480 grit paper, then 1000 , then wet sanded with 1000 and then wet sanded with 2000 grit paper. I then used a polishing compound that said safe for fiberglass and polished and buffed for about 3 hours doing small sections at a time. I them followed that up with 2 coats of wax. It looks great as far as the shine but the 36 year old boat doesn't have very much color left in places. I am just wanting to see if there are any suggestions out there or just be glad she floats...

LOOKS GREAT FOR A RIG THAT AGE!! I am finishing up a project rig of my own (a 22-yr old), and next on the hit list is the exterior. Previous owner(s) stored this boat outside its whole life (I believe). Everything above the rub rail is chalky-white. Below the rail, not-so-bad, but will need work as well.

1). Am I to understand that you DRY sanded the first two stages, with 480 first then 1000 before proceeding to wet sanding? All by hand, correct?

2). For your polish and wax, I see you have a rotary-buffer in your pic...Assuming you used it for the polish and wax? Did you get any swirl-marks? What speed did you use on the tool?

I would be EXTREMELY PLEASED if I could make my project rig look as good as yours!!!

Thanks,
M

 

[Randy H]

I'm in the automotive paint business. Gel coat is a little different animal. 3M makes a product called Trizac its 3000-5000 grit used on a dual action sander. You can pick one up at Harbor Freight pretty cheap. I've used this on gel coat and have gotten good results with a lot less effort. Follow up with a good cutting compound and glaze.