Do i need to clay Gel coat before compounding??
- Thread starter Jomax
- Start date
To me the correct answer depends on a lot of factors and we'd need more information from you to fully answer that question. Without that information if you'll do a simple baggy test you'll get your answer. However, I'll give you my scenario.
My dad and I was trying to polish out a 25ft. Baha Cruiser walk-around Fisherman 240. This boat is a 1996 model and wasn't in too bad of shape. The boat came out of Florida and had found a new home on the Great Lake Erie.
We started by washing and drying, then going to a wool pad on a rotary with 3M marine cleaner wax, and some compound. The compound proved to work best but was very grabby and generated a ton of heat on our test spot. The shine was certainly better, but the surface was not completely smooth.
I just happened to have with me a complete over-the-counter Meguiar's clay kit. I got it out and started using it right beside where I had already compounded.
After awhile my dad came around to my side of the boat and I asked him to take a look at the two areas I had been working on. He got positioned along the side so he could use the glaring light to see what I had done. He said, "yeah I see where you polished but what do you want me to see on the second spot you mentioned?" I asked him to take his hand and rub it along the boat where nothing had been done, and keep feeling along right on into the area I had polished, and then right on in to the area where no compounding had taken place...just the clay bar.
As he made the big swipe he said he could feel a difference in what had been compouned but wanted to know what I did to the other spot to get it so smooth while it had no shine to it.
The moral of the story is he and I spent the rest of the morning claying the entire boat inside and out, and then we compounded and polished it.
The claying made a huge difference in how the compound and wool acted and generated much less heat and allowed the shine to be amped up quite a bit as well.
So, do baggy test on it just like a car and see if it needs to be clayed. The plastic bag will allow your hand to feel the contaminants and save you a lot of wasted time and frustration.
I never dreamed that clay would work on gel-coat, but it does.
My dad and I was trying to polish out a 25ft. Baha Cruiser walk-around Fisherman 240. This boat is a 1996 model and wasn't in too bad of shape. The boat came out of Florida and had found a new home on the Great Lake Erie.
We started by washing and drying, then going to a wool pad on a rotary with 3M marine cleaner wax, and some compound. The compound proved to work best but was very grabby and generated a ton of heat on our test spot. The shine was certainly better, but the surface was not completely smooth.
I just happened to have with me a complete over-the-counter Meguiar's clay kit. I got it out and started using it right beside where I had already compounded.
After awhile my dad came around to my side of the boat and I asked him to take a look at the two areas I had been working on. He got positioned along the side so he could use the glaring light to see what I had done. He said, "yeah I see where you polished but what do you want me to see on the second spot you mentioned?" I asked him to take his hand and rub it along the boat where nothing had been done, and keep feeling along right on into the area I had polished, and then right on in to the area where no compounding had taken place...just the clay bar.
As he made the big swipe he said he could feel a difference in what had been compouned but wanted to know what I did to the other spot to get it so smooth while it had no shine to it.
The moral of the story is he and I spent the rest of the morning claying the entire boat inside and out, and then we compounded and polished it.
The claying made a huge difference in how the compound and wool acted and generated much less heat and allowed the shine to be amped up quite a bit as well.
So, do baggy test on it just like a car and see if it needs to be clayed. The plastic bag will allow your hand to feel the contaminants and save you a lot of wasted time and frustration.
I never dreamed that clay would work on gel-coat, but it does.
Perfections
New member
- Aug 17, 2010
- 1,257
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I'll wetsand a boat before I would've ever thought about claying it. Never clayed a boat and never will.
Just remember that it worked for me and my dad on his boat. Our boat had contaminants on it. Removing them helped a ton. It may not work for you, and it will depend on how the boat is stored and maintained.
I've worked on bass boats that were stored inside that didn't need it though, and a test didn't reveal anything. This boat didn't require claying: http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/show-n-shine/44177-ranger-bass-boat-minor-scratch-removal.html