30 year old boat oxidation.

Dieselgeek

Dieselgeek

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Hey all,

I have a 1983 Sea Ray that has NEVER been wax/polished... I have read various threads/watched youtube videos, so I know what I'm up against, but I also know the reward is worth it. I have a Dewalt Rotary, and am wondering what my best compound will be start with, then polish, wax, etc...

I will be ordering soon, so looking for advice please! I will need to order wool pads, foam pads as well.

Thanks in advance! I'll post before/after pics.
 
Go aggressive. Megs M105 at the minimum. Clean your pads a lot. Boats react really well to almost any polish in my experience.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using AG Online
 
Don't know much about boats, but there is a new Marine 31 forum that started when autogeek launched the Marine 31 lineup. Might want to check it out.
 
Definitely check out the Marine 31 line; they have very heavy cut compounds that will help you achieve awesome results.

You will also need some wool pads, a pad spur, and, to make your life a whole lot easier, a Grit Guard Universal Pad Washer to clean you pads as you work.

Here's a thread and some photos of a boat I worked on: http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum...tion-removal-complete-makeover-lots-pics.html
 
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Thanks for the advice guys, I will check them out.
 
After 30 years, I'd be looking at Meguiar's Power Cut (M-91) as a start.

This is NOT the least aggressive method, but WOW, 30 years...I hate to think what it looks like.

Bill
 
The cleaner wax from marine 31 didn't not work in my case. I used 3M compound/wax for marine, here are the results:
 
Dieselgeek said:
Hey all,

I have a 1983 Sea Ray that has NEVER been wax/polished... I have read various threads/watched youtube videos, so I know what I'm up against, but I also know the reward is worth it. I have a Dewalt Rotary, and am wondering what my best compound will be start with, then polish, wax, etc...

I will be ordering soon, so looking for advice please! I will need to order wool pads, foam pads as well.

Thanks in advance! I'll post before/after pics.
Click to expand...


Be sure to get good before pictures...


The power in the after shots is created in the before shots



:Picture:
 
What was said was that the cleaner wax did not work. Obviously compound was needed on that hull. You crap on the entire line due to someone using the least abrasive method first then stepping up? Oh, and you've never used Marine 31 yet recommend competitive products? I am amazed......
 
RTexasF said:
What was said was that the cleaner wax did not work. Obviously compound was needed on that hull. You crap on the entire line due to someone using the least abrasive method first then stepping up? Oh, and you've never used Marine 31 yet recommend competitive products? I am amazed......
Click to expand...
I am equally amazed..... who crapped on the line? I stated my opinion "I personally wouldnt try marine 31.... seems like its in its infitile state." As seen here. I've been detailing boats for 8 years and these products have worked every single time. In my experience, new products often have flaws and have not been tweeked. That is my opinion. Thanks have a nice day.:xyxthumbs:
 
Actually the marine 31 cleaner wax was working, it just took more passes so I went more aggressive, he must not know the saying "go with the least aggressive first".

And for the record I will be buying more Marine 31 products because they do work well and I seen this at the demo they had at detail fest. I went with what i had and 3M coumpound was it, if I had Marine 31 compound, I would have used it and 3M would have collected dust.
 
I'm looking to possibly order some Mequiars 91, 45 polish, and 56 wax... Boat is a 30' Sea Ray. How much compound/polish/wax am I going to need, also how many wool pads, foam pads, etc?
 
Megs has a Marine compound that works great. I now also use Marine 31 and have 3M in my marine use arsenal.

At minimum id use an agressive compound and follow with a polish
 
I'm doing a full correction on a sea ray 340 next week. I'll have some before shots up later tonight in a dedicated thread. I'm wet sanding certain parts of the boat that are severely oxidized before using the rotary with a wool pad and compound. I'll finish up with a polish to remove haze and top it off with collinite.
Depending on how oxidized the boat is, you're going to want to start off wet sanding. If you're not comfortable wet sanding you can just use a rotary with a wool pad but be prepared to clean the pad after each small section. As mentioned above, Gelcoat is different than oxidized car finishes.
 
If you can find a Distributor "Big White rubbing compound" by Finish kare works awesome. Cuts fast and leaves nice shine. It's not a toxic as some of these other marine compounds like "3m". 3m Super duty rubbing comp or imperial compound and finishing material work good to, the Latter produces a lot of dust. If its in pretty bad shape I always start with marine products then I jump to auto products.Rotary is a must for most marine detailing.
 
Farecla has a product, called Profile 100 rubbing compound, it's an extra coarse compound for tough or resins or gel coats. Stronger then any other product out there if needed.
 
Dieselgeek said:
I'm looking to possibly order some Mequiars 91, 45 polish, and 56 wax... Boat is a 30' Sea Ray. How much compound/polish/wax am I going to need, also how many wool pads, foam pads, etc?
Click to expand...

You may have to add Meguiar's M-67 to the mix. 91 can leave a 'marred' surface, that stuff is pretty stout. I also recommend Meguiar's Flagship Wax (M-63), it is a tad on the pricy side. You can think of it as Meg's Ultimate Wax for boats/RVs.

How much product...all these products come in quart size bottles, so they do last for awhile. Can't really say how much you will need.

I have used LC Yellow pads with good results for the starting point. If you have a rotary and wool pads, it will go a LOT faster.

Bill
 
Theraven said:
Farecla has a product, called Profile 100 rubbing compound, it's an extra coarse compound for tough or resins or gel coats. Stronger then any other product out there if needed.
Click to expand...

+1 for the Farecla Profile 100 - very course cutting compound. Should be used as a last step option before switching to wet-sanding or as the first step in a multistage process to remove 800 to 1000 grit wet-sanding marks.
 
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[/IMG][/IMG]gel coat isn't like auto paint.With gel coat its all about the cut aka the grit it starts out with.when it spins on the buffer the grit gos up.

So the longer you use it the higher the grit will go.90 % of the time I start out with 1000 grit compound.But if I can rub the gel coat with my hand and it comes off on my hand there is no need to compound 1st.

When its this bad better to start out wet sanding.I know what your going to say use lower grit compound and yes I can do that also.But it is so much better to wet sand it.

Y you say its way better to push paper then the buffer to go from 400 grit compound then 800 then 1200 then and then and then.you get the Idea.

So start out with 1000 grit paper I let sit in soapy water longer the better 1 hr min.use a rubber block FOR me I like to sand from left to right only NOT up and down.Do this real light don't rush this.

You will see a milky wetness come from the gel coat this is good thing if you don't see this milky gel coat you are sanding some real hard paint not gel coat stop and do a test spot.If a boat is painted with algrip or a gel coat paint after it came out of the mold it can be a lot harder then the rest of the gel coat and needs to be buffed not sanded till you see if you can sand out the sanding marks 1st.

This can be done with 2000 or 2500. But they don't put to much on when they paint after the mold comes off the boat. So its thin real thin as not to run when they put it on .

Now to the buffing after sanding 1000 then 1500 sanding done time to buff. You can now use compound that is less grit to start then the last grit you wet sanded with.

Now I start out with 1000 grit gel coat compound. and a spray bottle of water. I take some compound in a smaller tub and put in 4 cups of compound and ad 1/2 cup of water then mix it up good with a brush.Till its a little tinnier.

Now I brush it on thin all over 4ft by 4 ft area.Now time to buff it out this is where you will see where wet sanding from left to right works the best.

I buff at speed 3 most of the time now going up and down with the buffer NOT LEFT TO RIGHT but up and down you are going to get rid of the sanding Marks a lot faster and better also.

When you are done buffing the area I spray water on the area and rebuff it again this will take that compound and turn it in to about 2000 grit and make it shine a lot more.

Next step is to wipe clean and move on to the next area to buff.When I get done with one side or a big area its time to put the sealer on wipe one last time to get all the dust off.

Now I put on the sealer with a pad I use a old DA buffer pad.5.5 put the sealer on the hole area first then use 71/2 foam pad to take off the sealer slow speed 2 also up and down with the buffer as pad loads up you need to clean it. when this is all done wipe the area down again .

Now is when I use a topper on top of the sealer. Aqua wax as topper.Spray on wipe off. You now have to best looking boat out there and they all know it.

From master dealers and charlie yantis get out there on your boat and have some fun.

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