Boat help

[scribble]

My brother picked up a 20 year old 15ft fishing/sport boat that has a nasty brown colored gel coat that is severaly oxidized. I trying to decide what to start with for products. I currently have a PC I took as trade for some other work but never used it due to the crappy pads it came with. I am looking to make my first order and want to make sure I get everything I need to do the fleet of vehicles at the house.

 

Thanks For the help.

[Chris@Adams]

This would be a great kit for you & the 4th sale is good thru Mon.

 

Adam's Porter Cable Car Polisher Accessory Kit

[MacCool]

Gelcoat does oxidize more substantially than car finishes, but OTOH a boat's polyester gelcoat is far more robust than the clear coat on a car and responds far more readily to aggressive detailing with a much greater margin for error.

 

The place to start is most definitely with an acid wash to get the brown scum off. There are several products on the market, but I'd recommend something fairly strong, like MaryKate's On-Off. After that, it's a matter of dealing with the oxidation. The PC is well-suited for that, but I'm thinking that even SSR and the green pad may take awhile and you may need a substantially more aggressive pad. The alternative would be hand-sanding and then finish polishing with the PC. A google search on gelcoat restoration will return a lot of hits.

[Gambrinus]

http://www.davisnet.com/productpics/big/00792.jpg

 

This is the best stuff I have ever used I did my 42 foot boat in a half hour yesterday

Edited July 5, 2011 by Gambrinus

[Chewy]

Best thing for fiberglass is at least a Flex, but a rotary is best. Especially for faded gelcoat. I used the Flex on our Correct Craft this year and it came out great. It was in amazing condition previous to the polish though.

 

Something like Adams SSR or something even more abrasive and a rotary is usually your best bet.

 

Chris

[MacCool]

http://www.davisnet.com/productpics/big/00792.jpg

 

This is the best stuff I have ever used I did my 42 foot boat in a half hour yesterday

 

 

Yes, that's just another acid wash product, like many of the others out there, about 4.5% oxalic acid. It will definitely get rid of the stains, won't harm gelcoat, but won't do anything for the oxidation. That's gonna require some elbow grease, and unless the OP likes a LOT of hand-sanding, he'll want a buffer of some kind, preferably a rotary.

[Gambrinus]

My brother picked up a 20 year old 15ft fishing/sport boat that has a nasty brown colored gel coat that is severaly oxidized

 

OOPS. Did not read that right.the fsr is for the bottom of boat when it turns brown from sitting in the water

[Team Adam's]

Gel coat takes a pretty aggressive approach to correct... be prepared to spend a lot of time working with SSR and SHR to get it back to good condition.

[lawson4450]

believe it or not i used just shr and fmp on a boat and it came out great. I also bought some boat stuff too afterward just in case.

[WildBillsBlueC6]

What I have done for years is take marine compound and mix by 50% with water. Take a paint brush and paint it onto the gel coat then take a rotary to it. Then use a Flex or PC for the small areas. I have been doing this since '85 with the gel coat and keep it looking like new every year.