Pictures: 16' Key Largo Center Console Boat Detailing Class with Marine 31

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Pictures: 16' Key Largo Center Console Boat Detailing Class with Marine 31


Here's where we started... a 2007 16' Key Largo Center Console Boat that has not been polished or waxed for years...


Dull, oxidized gel-coat, no shine, no reflection, rough to the touch...

Oxidation over all the console and stained, oxidized chrome surfaces...

We're going to use a number of Marine 31 products to restore this boat. For the gel-coat finish we're going to use the Marine 31 All-in-One Gel Coat Polish & Wax, this is a light one-step cleaner/wax for mildly neglected gel-coat surfaces. It will clean, polish and protect in one-step.

To apply it, we're going to use dual action polishers but bump up their cleaning and oxidation removing ability by using the new Lake Country Purple Foamed Wool DA Pads, which are thinner so they will rotate better under pressure on dual action polishers. Thick pads don't work well on these types of tools, especially when doing heavy correction work.

Here's Steve working on the hull, this was the first time Steve had used a dual action polisher so I started him out with a 5.5" White CCS Foam Polishing Pad as the extra cushion provided by the foam will make getting the feel for the tool easier than the thin, rigid PFW pads.

Here's Marcos using the Porter Cable 7424XP with the new thin PFW pads...

Here's Richard using my personal Rupes 21 Bigfoot with a 5" backing plate and a 6" Hybrid Blue Foamed Wool Pad...

Here's Chris using the Porter Cable 7424XP with the 5.5" PFW thin pads...

Robert Diterlizzi is using the Flex PE14 Lightweight, Compact Rotary Polisher with the 3" PFW thin pads to knock out the intricate areas and tight spots on the console.

A full size rotary buffer couldn't do this...

This is Rick's first time to one of our boat detailing classes and Rick wanted to learn how to use a rotary buffer, so I matched him up with Robert for some expert one-on-one training.

Robert and Rick making gel-coat shine!

This was Steve's first time to one of our boat detailing classes but we'll be seeing him again when he brings his BLACK 26' Proline Boat.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Besides machine polishing the gel-coat, we also tackled the metal, Bimini Top and Vinyl seats...

(Sorry Nick, I didn't get any pictures of you working the seats over)


Here's Steve waterproofing the Bimini Top using Marine 31 T-Top Fabric Protectant

Bryan, John and Nick hand polished all the metal brightwork using Marine 31 Stainless Steel and Aluminum Brightening Soap.

Nice work guys, all the chrome, aluminum and stainless steel turned out great!

You can watch a short video by clicking the link below to see how this metal polishing soap works...

Video: Metal Polishing & Protecting - Dockside Tips #3

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

And here's the beauty shots...

This boat had zero gloss and shine when it arrived and the hull felt rough to the touch. Now it's a dramatically brighter white, with excellent shine, gloss and even reflection....

The hardest thing to do is to get sharp reflections off a white surface...

Check this out... I'm standing when I took this shot...

Then I dropped down to one knee and captured the red and black tile floor reflections off the white gel-coat finish...

The console had ZERO gloss and slickness before Robert and Rick started.. now look at it...

Remember the Mercury engine I said we would fix in the sign-up thread?

We're going to fix the Monster Sticker...

Fixed...

And here's the wrecking crew...

From left to right...

Marcus, Nick, Steve, John, Bryan, Chris, Steve, Richard and Robert...

Here's the owner Mike taking his floating toy home...

Another successful boat extreme makeover with Marine 31 ready to hit the water...

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

And here's what we used....

On Marine31.com

Marine 31 All-In-One Gel Coat Polish & Wax - 16 ounce

Lake Country Thin Foamed Wool Pads

Marine 31 T-Top Fabric Protectant with SunBlock

Porter Cable 7424 XP Dual Action Orbital Polisher

How to Properly Use the Porter Cable 7424XP Dual Action Polisher DVD - Hosted by Mike Phillips

FLEX PE14-2-150 Rotary Polisher

Marine 31 Stainless Steel and Aluminum Brightening Soap

Blue All Purpose Microfiber Towels 12 pack

Marine 31 Stern to Bow Waterless Wash & Wax with Carnauba

Marine 31 Vinyl Cleaner & Conditioner

 

[Chris@AutoCleanse]

This was the first boat I ever had a chance to detail overall, and since coming down to the Thursday Night Makeovers. First off it was a pleasure as always to work with the normal guys and some new attendees. We had a chance to use the new purple foam thin pads from lake country, which were very effective in my opinion and definitely brought out the gloss of the boat to its full potential. They were very easy to use and made short work of the project at hand. Thanks again to Mike for constantly bringing in new and exciting projects. Like he always says you never know what will show up in the Autogeek Garage.

 

[Chris@AutoCleanse]

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[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

This was the first boat I ever had a chance to detail overall, and since coming down to the Thursday Night Makeovers. First off it was a pleasure as always to work with the normal guys and some new attendees.

Hi Chris,

Saw this post last week but was really slammed all week and didn't get back to this thread.

We had one new guys, Steve that found us through www.TheHullTruth.com as I have a dedicated forum group that that I post to on that forum. We'll be seeing Steve's boat here at the show car garage hopefully in August and it's BLACK so it's going to be a challenge but the cool thing is everyone will get to see what Marine 31 can do with black.

Isn't' black the hardest color to correct and perfect?

(The answer is yes for those reading this, no matter if it's a car or a boat).


We also had Rick join in and Rick's thinking about doing some boat detailing on the side.


So that's one of the goals of our Thursday night projects and that's to let local guys check out different tools, pad and products while at the same time getting to work on cool cars and now boats. The only other detailing discussion forum I see that does this type of thing is MOL and that's with their TNOG's or Thursday Night Open Garage projects and I started those up back around 2006. Glad to see under Mike Stoops they are still going strong. In fact, I think that might have been where I first met Mike Stoops as he was a regular attender before joining the Meguiar's Team.

We had a chance to use the new purple foam thin pads from lake country, which were very effective in my opinion and definitely brought out the gloss of the boat to its full potential. They were very easy to use and made short work of the project at hand.

Ah yes... the new purple foamed THIN pads from Lake Country. These pads did work great and I think we'll see people using them on cars with good success too. I noticed a product bleed through issue and I'll share this with Eric Dunn.

Thanks again to Mike for constantly bringing in new and exciting projects. Like he always says you never know what will show up in the Autogeek Garage.

Chris it's ALWAYS a pleasure to have you with us for these projects, not only because you're a genuinely nice guy but also because you're a lot of fun to be around. Sorry to say your sidekick Tim was a no show...


I'll be scheduling a car for next Thursday, not sure what it's going to be, possibly a convertible 1965 Mustang...

 

[NIKIGUNZ]

Hey a little late , but had another great night at autogeek with mike and the boyz, always learn about new products and tips from the guys, cudos to mike for always makin it fun and informative cant wait till next time.

 

[Impressions]

As usual it was good times!
A lot of guys on a little boat made quick going of it
I think what made it even easier was the new Lake Country Flat Purple Foam Wool pads!
These pads performed flawlessly on the Flex Rotary, combined with Marine 31 Polish and Wax, removed heavy oxidation on the center console. As Mike said there was a slight issue with product seeping through to the BP but it didn't seem to affect performance.
Can't wait till the next one!

 

[57BORNTORUN]

As usual it was good times!
A lot of guys on a little boat made quick going of it
I think what made it even easier was the new Lake Country Flat Purple Foam Wool pads!
These pads performed flawlessly on the Flex Rotary, combined with Marine 31 Polish and Wax, removed heavy oxidation on the center console. As Mike said there was a slight issue with product seeping through to the BP but it didn't seem to affect performance.
Can't wait till the next one!

Sorry I could not make this one (family stuff) but I must say Robert..... you and Chris never looked more HANDSOME!!! LOL.:nomore::buffing:

 

[Impressions]

We actually missed you Tim!
(Did I just admit that)
Hope you'll be there next week buddy, and bring your sidekick with you!