Can't remove dull, hazy oxidation from my 1983 Formula Gel-Coat Boat?

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Can't remove dull, hazy oxidation from my 1983 Formula Gel-Coat Boat?




Anytime I get questions via e-mail, a PM or a FB message I prefer to invest my typing time where

A: It's easier for me to share links, pictures and videos.

B: More people can read and thus benefit from the information. (no just one set of eyeballs


So I get an e-mail asking,



Hey Mike!

Love watching all your videos and love Autogeek in general! Great company!

I moved down here back in June and brought my 1983 Formula boat down about a year ago. We moved from a suburb of Chicago, where we used it on Lake Michigan (Fresh water). It was bought brand new in '85 and was meticulously kept clean and always covered.

Now with it being down here for a year so far, it's looking very hazy/milky.

We've tried different Marine 31 compounds but can't seem to restore it to the nice gloss we used to have. I was just at Detail Fest and picked up another product and after just trying it I still don't see any improvements.

I'm reaching out to you today to see if either you can point me in the right direction or if even you would like to use this boat for one of your classes/product showcase videos. We would be willing to pay as well for your time and expertise.

I've attached a few photos that I can find currently. We'd love to hear from you!


Thanks,
Matt


Here's Matt's boat, a 1983 Formula

Hi Matt,

Here's the deal....

When gel-coat oxidizes, it's both on the surface and IN the gel-coat, the worse it is the DEEPER it goes into the gel-coat. The deeper the oxidation the more aggressive you have to get. In my classes, I bring I boats MUCH worse than yours and then show the class how to remove the oxidation by machine sanding. The reason I show the sanding approach is because both approaches will remove the oxidation but when you machine buff >you< are going to PUSH HARD for hours to get the job done. when you machine sand, you hold the polisher lightly against the surface and let the machine do the work. It's called,

Working harder than working smarter....


Here's and example of what I mean, Jim is machine sanding, notice how he's not pushing hard...

See all the pictures from this once-a-year class here,

Click here to see ALL the pictures from the 2018 Boat Detailing Class and you'll see just how hands-on these classes are!






The above is just one way to skin a cat, there are a million.



My first question however is,


How were you applying the product you bought?

Type of tool?
Type of pad?

This makes a HUGE difference as to how the products will work, or not work.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Here's how you PUSH HARD for hours the archaic caveman approach....



This is how you lean into the buffer....

DeWALT 849X sans handle and grabbing the rubber overmold on the head of the unit and the pushing down hard...

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Update


Great talking to you today Gary and Leslie...



Now that I know what tool and pad you have it's a lot easier to figure out why you're not getting a shiny boat.


The tool you have is a 21mm long stroke orbital polisher and it's not going to cut it and in this case... when I use the word "cut" a pun is intended.


The pad you have is a Hex logic foam pad. These pads are too thick and all the foam that makes up this pad absorbs the energy coming out of the tool and dissipates it. This shows up to your eyes as no pad rotation. Here's the deal...


With this tool and this pad you're NEVER going to remove the heavy oxidation shown in the pictures above.


There's a million ways to skin a cat, most of the world does things the wrong way, by this I mean most of the boat detailers out their will cut the oxidation with a wool pad on a rotary buffer and someone's compound and this will work but it will leave hologram scratches in the gel-coat. Another way of thinking of this is it's leaving the gel-coat all opened up with millions of scratches and this will lead to oxidation again. It might even speed up the oxidation process.


The way I show is to sand the gel-coat to remove the oxidation and then remove your sanding marks with the rotary buffer and a wool pad and YES this leave the hologram scratches BUT then what I do or show is remove the hologram scratches using the FLEX 3401, which is a gear-driven, 8mm orbital polisher. It can remove a scratch without leaving a scratch or mark and do it faster than any other orbital polisher on the market today. It also costs around $400.00


The good news is you live nearby and you're going to bring the boat by tomorrow and I will dial in a process that will remove the oxidation and get your boat back to looking beautiful.

Call me on my cell when you arrive to Autogeek with your boat and I'll meet you and we'll inspect your boat together.

 

[jolo]

Can't beat that! ^^^^

 

[jolo]

@ Mike

3401 or Millie ?

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

@ Mike

3401 or Millie ?

What's the question? Which one would I choose?

 

[Dan Tran]

Update


Great talking to you today Gary and Leslie...



Now that I know what tool and pad you have it's a lot easier to figure out why you're not getting a shiny boat.


The tool you have is a 21mm long stroke orbital polisher and it's not going to cut it and in this case... when I use the word "cut" a pun is intended.


The pad you have is a Hex logic foam pad. These pads are too thick and all the foam that makes up this pad absorbs the energy coming out of the tool and dissipates it. This shows up to your eyes as no pad rotation. Here's the deal...


With this tool and this pad you're NEVER going to remove the heavy oxidation shown in the pictures above.


There's a million ways to skin a cat, most of the world does things the wrong way, by this I mean most of the boat detailers out their will cut the oxidation with a wool pad on a rotary buffer and someone's compound and this will work but it will leave hologram scratches in the gel-coat. Another way of thinking of this is it's leaving the gel-coat all opened up with millions of scratches and this will lead to oxidation again. It might even speed up the oxidation process.


The way I show is to sand the gel-coat to remove the oxidation and then remove your sanding marks with the rotary buffer and a wool pad and YES this leave the hologram scratches BUT then what I do or show is remove the hologram scratches using the FLEX 3401, which is a gear-driven, 8mm orbital polisher. It can remove a scratch without leaving a scratch or mark and do it faster than any other orbital polisher on the market today. It also costs around $400.00


The good news is you live nearby and you're going to bring the boat by tomorrow and I will dial in a process that will remove the oxidation and get your boat back to looking beautiful.

Call me on my cell when you arrive to Autogeek with your boat and I'll meet you and we'll inspect your boat together.

Mike thanks for this information. Now that I moved to Coastal Maine, I have been asked more and more about boat detailing.

This is amazing information.

I’m just trying to convince my wife that I need to take your boating detailing class.

I tell here what you would say about high quality tools—“It won’t cost us money, it will make us money.”


Sent from my iPhone using Autogeekonline mobile app