Detailing A Boat

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I have a friend who is wanting me to detail his 27' boat. He is only wanting the outside polished and waxed. The boat gets taken out of the water every time they are are done with and it gets racked so there isn't a water line he says. My question is can I use my Flex PE-14 with either an orange pad or wool pad with some FG-400 on the gel coat to get good results? Also I was wondering if I can use Menz PL to seal it? Do I need to get boat specific products? Any input is greatly appreciated. Thanks!
 
You might need something gel coat specific to power through it. Not sure, I'll let the boat guys chime in....
 
I would say it depends how bad the gel coat is. As many of you know the gel coat is much much thicker than clear coat so the marine grade compounds and polishes are much more aggressive than the auto grade. I have tried to use wool pad with meguiars speed compound with little luck. These boats were very oxidized though, so you may have better luck. But I'd say in general you should probably get a few marine products
 
Thanks for the link. Looks like I have an order to place.
 
I have used FG400 in the past with good results on gel coat, don't remember what kind of pad I used, either foam wool or regular wool.
 
I got good results when I switched from a foam pad to a wool pad. The difference is substantial especially if the gel coat has wear and tear on it.

Good Luck
 
It sounds like you have not actually seen the boat yet. Make sure you see the condition of the boat before you order anything or quote prices if you are charging your friend.

Marine 31 Heavy Cut Cleaner Wax is a great one step with a lot of cut.
Duragloss #561 and #501 is a great combo and #501 will actually give a fairly long lasting sealant.
 
wool pad 1000 grit comp on speed 3 I use a makita. cleaner wax is for stuff thats not to bad but I never use it.But thats just me and I do 100 boats a year so I dont have time to play with it.then I use a sealer then topper spray wax.
 
How bad is the boat? I've done some serious color restoration on a white boat with a OTC cheap crappy random orbital, foam bonnets, and Meguiars Marine #44. I recently re-bought Meguiars Marine #44 and am going to detail my boat again with it. I'll be using a white LC foam pad and porter cable 7424xp. I might need to step up to an orange LC foam pad, we'll see. I've already heard M105/M205 will do ok, so I imagine FG400 would do well. I meant to do a test spot on it the other weekend but got carried away. Happy detailing man :xyxthumbs:

BTW - I should add the #44 w/ foam pads made a big difference, but the boat wasn't all jacked up. Just the white that was in the water was not a pure, bright white. If there is severe oxidation/correction needed I've definitely heard wool pads are needed.
 
Thanks for all of the info. I have not seen the boat in person and we decided to go with an hourly rate so I don't get screwed. I went with Marine 31 Heavy Cut Cleaner Wax. I will post pictures when I do it in a few weeks.
 
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