Final polishing/ buffing BEFORE decaling, then waxing questions-gctid809016

[HueyCrew]

I've been "learning as I go with the refurb on my radar arch. I've been using a 7" digital-vari speed rotary buffer (always on it's lowest range since I'm a beginner), starting with tan "cutting pads and Meguiars Med cut followed by Fine cut squirt on's on BLUE PAD, followed by Turtle Wax brand polish on a black (polishing and applying liquid wax) foam pad and have gotten an impressive amount of gloss back. Always wiping by hand with those terrycloth towels between each operation. The hull sides aren't in nearly as bad shape as the horizontal surfaces and other than removing the "shadows from the decals/ striping I don't plan on replacing doesn't look like it'll require as much "cutting" before polishing. I'm planning on going right over the thin red/ blue stripe ( held up pretty well in a "test area"). If it goes badly I'll remove it but otherwise it'll get polished and waxed.

My question... For the final polishing would you apply with the foam and buff with Terry cloth towels by hand or use a wool pad on the polisher? Or will it make much difference? Same question in regards to final waxing after applying replacement decal/ stripes. Would you wax and buff by hand or rotary polisher? or one by hand and polisher on the other? Meguiars pure Carnauba sure brings out the reflection on car bodies but they aren't subject to salt spray and more time between rewaxings so any first hand experience/ opinions are appreciated as well with various waxes, marine or otherwise. I use auto wax on our helicopters and when next to one that has been gone over with "aircraft specific" wax, you can't tell the difference and concluded that "XYZ Specific" sometimes differs only in price. Not looking to win any awards for finish but hoping to turn a head or two when I tell em it's a '90 and I did it myself..... Thanks,

Dave

[Ruffryder]

Wool pad is only for cutting / compounding, not on the polisher or polishing.

[brad4550]

Hi Dave

Here is my process.

1) buff with wool pad using 3M Imperial.

2) buff/ polish with wool pad 3 M finess-it 2

3) wax with foam pad (for wax) using colonite fleet past wax,wipe off w/ micro fiber towel.

Note: 1 and 2 using variable speed buffer.

3 applying W/ random orbital

Good luck Brad

[Ruffryder]

Dave, seems like you are doing 3 to 4 multi steps,

I recommend using 3 M Imperial compounding & finishing all in one finish...

Stuff is not cheap, but we'll worth it...3Ms best most advanced product by far.

It will save you a lot of time.

I just hit it once, that's it. I don't even apply wax on top of it.

https://youtu.be/Yj_UbHz0kxA

https://youtu.be/ke5kfYz9Ybw

[desuch]

any idea how well this would work on a heavily oxidized fiberglass boat ?i have been using the 3 m heavy oxidation wax

polish works very well but takes 3 or 4 steps

[HueyCrew]

Mine's the same way desuch VERY oxidized and molded. Sides feel gritty and there is no gloss above the rub line at all. Thanks guys! Very useful and time-saving info! Keep em coming.

Another area of question.....the textured deck and swim platform surfaces. I actually saw a YouTube video where a guy attached a brush to his SawZall and went over the "less skid" areas with it but didn't watch the whole thing but in retrospect it looked like it couldn't hurt. The guy that bought my C/C told me about On N Off today. I don't think I'll be using it as there isn't all that much wrong with lower hull except where I'm going to have to sand the old stern name erosion down flat. It made the SeaPro look like he was up all night scrubbing though. I'm dropping the white on below the gray linear line to the last flat before the hull turns under so all that will get sanded and primed. The blue is so badly faded, eroded and rough that it comes off like pool chalk. LOWES actually has marine hull, bottom and deck paint! I'll let y'all know how it holds up. Anything will be a huge improvement over how it is now.

[desuch]

had to use 3M rubbing compound on the flybridge so much oxidation ,the heavy oxidation wax didn't even work so its like waxing your boat twice, so far for me the best products are the 3M products

still lots of work

[RobMick]

In the end it its kinda ironic almost in an "Erie" way, that these long neglected boat exteriors, which there was little if any time and "love" put into them, now command many, many hours of painstaking, labor.....almost like they are "catching up" on lost love and time spent working on them...when they finally get a chance to have a good cleaning, they use as much time and effort as they can.....but ultimately, they always come right back to "standing tall and proud" again with that "overdue love" and sweat and beer and coffee and whiskey and cigars and good music...

[Jim_Gandee]

I have not used it yet but when I was I plan on trying this 3M product:

https://www.jamestowndistributors.co...gMPBQ#QAHeader

[HueyCrew]

PROGRESS UPDATE....Well after a week off for the cause, I'm knee deep in the gelcoat adventure and have a bit of advice for folks that have or are looking to buy "new to me" older boats that say ....."well other than the exterior she ain't in all that bad shape. Give her a good scrubbing and some wax and it'll look a lot better..." Get detailer estimates!!!! HIRE ONE!! It's a labor of love but geeeezzz!! But if you choose to go for it anyway, hopefully my experience will help yours be a better one. Being that I already had it in the counter, I went at the exterior with Foaming Scrubbing Bubbles with Bleach (in the spray bottle), a couple of stiff nylon bristle brushes, a well worn green Scotch-Brite pad, and a really neat little stiff nylon bristled brush made for SawzAlls ( anything that will save time as well as my elbows) for cleaning AND applying the compounds to the "less skid" areas of the horiz. surfaces and cockpit. knocked out that less skid texture in no time flat! I wish I had better pictures of how the exterior looked. It was pitiful before but it's been in the driveway in the woods through fall and spring and almost looked like the top fwd. area came light gray from the factory. The Scrubbing Bubbles worked like a champ! Removed some fittings, the fat striping half way up the upper hull. the 2655 logos just above the stripe. They're being replaced but not the fat stripe Luckily only shadowing where they were. Little to no erosion. Then off came the side logos on the aft hull sides with 1200 and 2000 wet sanding where they were. Next the offensive switched gears and I went after the raised area where the previous name was on the stern. Overall, the lower hull was in much better shape Fwd. of the Eng. comps but the last 5 ft. and stern was going to require as much effort as the rest of the exterior As you can see in the pictures, I had quite a bit of sanding to get everything leveled AND would have to be VERY careful to leave enough (of what was left of the) gelcoat for compounding and polish. Started with a couple of quick swipes of 180# then 320, 400, 600, 800 (wetting with a misting bottle as I sent wearing rubber gloves since I was using my 5" jitterbug sander) and finished with 1200 followed by 2000 and a rubber block. I ended up with one approx. 2"H x 4"L spot where the coat became translucent once I started compounding. Here's where I should have spent A LOT more time at YouTube University BEFORE jumping off into the compounding debacle... . After researching, I chose to go with Meguiars 105 Ultra cut and their 102 for finish polishing. followed up with a layer of paste wax 2-3 liquid wax layers over that and I've used their waxes for 20+ years and with the way I'll be maintaining and cleaning her I don't foresee any issues with not using "marine" labeled products. I'll evaluate how it looks the first post season haul out and decide if it'll go back on. The remaining "changes" for the exterior are to tape/ cover the top half of the lower hull gray stripe and carry the white all the way down to the bottom edge of the horizontal hull sides. At some point I'll trim that off with the traditional blue over red striping to break over which ever break of the gray stripe looks worse.....

Here's where I really wish it didn't always end up being hindsight that's 20/20. I've used random orbits and knew they were better at maintaining rather than restoring. I have never held a rotary polisher in my hands till I bought one "on the cheap" at Harbor Freight. Digital variable speed (1500-3000 rpm) and color coded foam flat pads Orange for cutting, blue for less aggressive cutting/ polishing and black for final polish/ applying wax. brought that home, unboxed everything except PAPER and commenced to "learning how" on the radar arch which is in the living room. The polisher (after the first couple of runs being wild enough it caused flashbacks to Army Basic Training and those potentially lethal floor buffers) seemed to handle ok but could get away from you really quickly if you didn't give it compete attention or you didn't apply enough product or let it start to dry as the heat starts building. Made it through the arch and am impressed with how the shine returned. Out to the boat with it now. Much different out there. it was much harder to control after running it a while, the variable speed worked but was too rapid jump from those first couple of startup revs, as well as when it sensed I was changing how much pressure I applied. Also between my not getting the proper amount of product applied and the heat that was building. I got places where the compound , (even after some serious terry towel hand pressure)bonded to the hull. I'd hose it and wipe it with a "rough feeling" washcloth and it's come right off. I kept repeating the process but the polisher was wearing me out. Back to You Tube Univ that evening. Have since ordered a QUALITY polisher with 0-600 and 600-3000 variable ranges which the lower range 0-600 was what the videos said to run the initial compound in with and increase as you went. The first one I got's lowest speed setting was the recommended max for the compound. as well as almost every video advised new operators to stay away from higher speed settings until you've gotten used to running it. Learned many other important tips at YouTube Univ. Yeah......Hindsight. Hopefully reading my post will save someone time, money and aggravation should they find themselves looking at a hull in need of some serious TLC. I remain positive that in the end, I'll be proud and happy with how she's going to look and will have learned to use something that will save time whether on the boat or vehicles. Once everything's shining I'll final post and add more pictures


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[HueyCrew]

Knee deep into it now. Best advice I can give someone looking at a possible "fixer upper" purchase thinking " everything seems in pretty good shape except the gel coat. I should be able to knock that out pretty easily".... #1.Get estimates and HIRE IT DONE! #2 A digital variable speed rotary polisher that seems a killer deal at only $45 at Harbor Freight ISN'T! It's minimum speed of 1500 rpm is right at the max for application of initial compounding, especially for a beginner. Worked fine on the radar arch which is inside at a constant temp and I didn't have a lot of moving around to do .The variable speed went from 1 very slow rotation to 1500 in a blink. Too much compound and it went everywhere and as it heated up rather quickly, began to stick to the hull. too little and it would start to dry and tried to throw me to the ground and I'd have to wet the area when I was finished and use a coarse wash rag to get it off. I managed to get the shine coming back on the stern and sides from stern fwd just past where the long side logos. The stern.... The pictures shows the difference in gelcoat thickness I had to get level and how little was left. I hit it with a couple swipes of 180 grit to get time back in my favor a bit, followed by 320, 400. Then 600 and 800 on the jitterbug sander misting with water as I went, finishing with 1200 and 2000 wet by hand. Had one spot the white became translucent approx. 2"x5": that I'm pretty sure the name will cover some or all. Not going to try and repaint. The side logos, Sunbridge logos and thickest stripes were removed with only the Sunbridge being replaced. Those weren't much more that shadowed erosion so I started with 800 girt through 2000. After the beating and aggravation from that polisher, washing the bonded residue between rounds and frustration that it didn't go at all as easily as the arch did, I spent the remainder of the evening at YouTube Univ. studying marine and auto videos on the subject, I have a good quality variable speed polisher on order with a 0-600 rpm and 600-3500 ranges Wish I'd have gone to YouTube Univ before my hard headed "I got this" self went at it.....Yeah hindsight....The upper hull was in pathetic shape. I didn't help it any by parking it at the house in the woods and a fall and spring's worth of crud sitting on an already pitiful finish. Thankfully I had the Bimini on but will be shopping for a cover. In the end I will have her looking like she should. Hopefully reading my ordeal will help someone else not have to go through the same mistakes and aggravation. After one washing, then a complete every nook and cranny, window base toothbrush scrub of everything white with foaming spray bottle of Scrubbing Bubbles with bleach and flushing behind the rub rail/ hull area and similar places to get all that out, she's ready for the compounding to resume. I found a bristle brush made specifically to mount in a SawZall and plan on compounding all that non skid lightly with it instead of the rotary. Planning on masking off half the lower gray stripe and continuing the white on down to where it turns under then adding the blue/red stripe with the red covering either the upper or lower edge of the gray to white transition.. Going to e a while before I have to deal with that though. I'll post more pictures as I progress. The "should haves" don't much matter at this point but would still be grateful for any advice on what's left to tackle.... The "stern after sanding" should include "and two rounds of compounding..."


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[Iproff]

"Ruffryder" post=809017 wrote:
Wool pad is only for cutting / compounding, not on the polisher or polishing.

I've used nothing but wool pads for 50 years that's all we had for most of that time. They do make 3 different grades of wool pads now. Back in the 60's there was only one. I can polish black after wet sanding and use the opposite side of the pad for the waxing. Most people use a polisher at to high a speed which can cause problems.

Ken

[desuch]

so far 3M products work the best for me i will be trying shurfuld buff magic i also have there pro polisher but my final buffing has been with a 3000 rpm dewalt buffer its been much work trying to get the shine back on a boat that i am sure has never been waxed since 1988

[Starchanger2]

3M makes a medium compound and wax that I have used. It work great for gel coat that has some oxidation and it a one step compound and wax. Set buffer speed at 1400 rpm's and work it in until it is shines. Use a paint stick to clean off wax build on wool buffing pad.

[HueyCrew]

That's what I've ordered, the DeWalt. The Meguiars advertises "diminishing abrasives" which II figured would help

buffer " my inexperience. This thing hadn't had any attention in several years either before I got her. I think that was my problem The polisher started at a rpm higher than what I needed to have, being's I've never used one. The cockpit area under the U lounge seat's almost new looking so I'm going to get used to the new DeWalt and sharpen my technique there. I was really surprised just how thin the stern gel coat was! Glad I didn't burn it. Have you guys used the foam pads? They talk about "priming" (dampening) the pads before use. Do you do the same with wool? Went through some of the Meguiars forums and they say that their products are designed not to need any special pad prep BUT then say if you do they recommend another product they sell.....go figure. I may try the R/O buffer and the wool pad in the seat area and compare against the foam on the V/Speed rotary Thanks for the advice y'all! I'll let you know how things proceed

Dave