Premium Detailed 1996 Cobalt 22ft boat!

Garry Dean

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Some of you may remember this boat from the meet I hosted at my shop a few weeks ago. I got started on this boat and then it started raining cats and dogs for several days so I got behind. I had this boat for 10 days. Over the 10 days I put 20 hours into this detail. This was the worst boat I have done in a while.

I received a call from a gentleman from Jacksonville, FL (3 hours north of me) who saw some of my work and posts on Autopia.org. He told me that he was impressed by my work. He also said that for the life of him he couldn’t find a detailer on my level in his area (what an ego stroke, lol). He told me that the boat was bought new by his brother in 1996 who then moved to Georgia and let it sit. He recently purchased the boat from his brother and decided to restore it. In the month before driving the boat down to my shop to drop it off he had the 7.4L big block 454 rebuilt and all new interior installed. As you will see in the pictures this boat was severely oxidized. The boat was actually red, white gel coat over a red gel coat base coat. This detail was supposed to only take 3 days, but it turned into 10 because of the rain.

The process:

* Washed boat with Dawn.
* Clay bar with Pinnacle Ultra Poly Clay.
* Wet sanded entire boat with Meguiars 1000, 2000, and 3000 Unigrit sand paper.
* All compounding was done with Makita 9227C rotary and LC backing plates.
* Compounded all red gel coat with Four Star Medium Cut Compound (OEM Line) and Four Star 7.5” Aggressor and Avenger wool pads.
* Meguiars M105 and 4” LC Purple Foamed Wool on all white gel coat areas.
* Meguiars Last Touch detail spray was used to help remove the polish residue.

NOTE: I tried about 5 different polishes to do the finishing work, but I settled on Meguiars Ultimate Compound, believe it or not, because it finished the best while giving a little more much needed cut.

* Finish polishing was done with a Meguiars G110 and 4” and 5.5” LC Orange CCS pads.
* The gel coat was sealed with the first coat of Four Star Ultimate Paint Protection.
* The boat was left for 24 hours so that the FS UPP could cure properly before a second coat.
* Final wash was done with Optimum Car Wash soap (this stuff smells amazing and works very well).
* Dried with The Absorber.
* Second coat of FS UPP.
* Finished with Meguiars Ultimate Quik Wax.

Now for some pictures! Here are the befores!

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You can see my test/teaser spot I did when the owner dropped it off.

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I didn’t do much to the interior as it was brand new, but here is a pic from the bow.

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So now the fun begins!

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Taped up for a 50/50

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Compound applied

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After compounding

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Some during shots

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50/50 shots!

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Super thick and gross as the rain drops begin to fall.

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Removal of steps

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It took 3 compounding trys to get the transom back to clarity

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RAIN!!!!

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After some pouring rain!

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Can you see a difference yet?

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Another 50/50

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More progress

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Yup, more rain, lol

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I finish polished with Meguiars Ultimate Compound and orange LC CCS pads

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Trying to get some work done between the rain

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Finially, some clarity!

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This out drive area was extremely tough area to make look like this

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Final wash before the client showed up.

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Are you ready for some afters?

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Interior all cleaned up

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A shot of the interior from the stern

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This got polished too

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And a happy client picking the boat up for the 3 hour drive back to Jacksonville

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Thanks for looking!!
 
Looks good man. You should look into some compounds made just for gelcoats. It will save you some time.
 
Looks great! Definitely worth all the time and effort on your part, looks like a new one!
 
Looks good man. You should look into some compounds made just for gelcoats. It will save you some time.

Thank you for the compliment, but I disagree. I have tried most products on the market and I do not find that gel coat specific products work any better or worse for that matter on gel coat surfaces than automotive specific ones.
Four Star Automotive OEM products are designed for all types of finishes (check out their website).
 
WOW, amazing job! So what was the owners reactions? I guess that outboard area took a lot of elbow grease....
Great work!
 
I dont mean to sound money hungry but.............I hope they paid you a nice junk of change for making that boat look like it just came out of the Bass Pro Shop! My 10ft long car gives me a hard enough time and you just did an entire 22ft that was so oxidized!!! and it looked like it may have been 1 stage paint in some areas from the red i saw on the pad! Amazing work!
 
Thanks for the compliments!

The owner was very pleased at the outcome.
 
Looks great. Fantastic work. I bet the owner was very pleased. Way to go.
 
Thank you for the compliment, but I disagree. I have tried most products on the market and I do not find that gel coat specific products work any better or worse for that matter on gel coat surfaces than automotive specific ones.
Four Star Automotive OEM products are designed for all types of finishes (check out their website).

cool deal. I will check out the site. Good lord, all that wet sanding and polishing. That job best pay the mortgage.
 
cool deal. I will check out the site. Good lord, all that wet sanding and polishing. That job best pay the mortgage.

I am not the cheapest guy on the block, but I am not even close to being the most expensive either. I charge what I need to justify the time spent and make my clients happy. I assure you, I am far from starving.
 
Oh, P.S.

Another boat was delivered to my shop today. Stay tuned...
 
Oh, P.S.

Another boat was delivered to my shop today. Stay tuned...


I am putting you on our prayer list at church lol!:buffing:

Oh I will be in Tampa after this weekend all week long. So if you would like a hand with anything, shoot a pmIm the MAN
 
I wanted to take a minute and compliment Garry on this restoration. I’m the boat owner. I can’t tell you how many of my fellow boat owners thought I was completely nuts for driving across the state to get this done. Everyone told me this couldn’t come back. Everyone I talked to thought the oxidation was too bad and the boat would need to be repainted.
They all under estimated Garry’s ability and determination. He really took this as a personal challenge – the man is an absolute genius. He lives for this stuff and his passion shows. The “before” pictures don’t really demonstrate how bad this boat was. The top red stripe was almost completely gone.
It’s been about a month and honestly the boat looks like the day I picked it up from Garry. I have this instant smile every time I look at it. Even the hard core skeptics that thought I was nuts are asking me for Garry’s number after seeing the boat. In a world where anybody can pick up a rotary and claim they are a detailer, it’s impressive to find a guy like Garry that is an absolute pro. He was completely honest and helpful from the beginning. He answered all of my questions and spent all the time necessary to make me feel comfortable with the process.
Restoring this boat has been very expensive. The money spent with Garry was the best investment I made. If anybody needs this type of work done – trust me – don’t waste time paying amateurs and getting poor results. Get the best and have Garry take care of it.
Garry – Thanks again. I will be happily driving across the state the next time I need any of my cars or boats done. :dblthumb2:
 
What kinda shape was the vinyl in? What did you use to clean and protect it? How many total hours went into this? Looks great!
 
I wanted to take a minute and compliment Garry on this restoration. I’m the boat owner. I can’t tell you how many of my fellow boat owners thought I was completely nuts for driving across the state to get this done. Everyone told me this couldn’t come back. Everyone I talked to thought the oxidation was too bad and the boat would need to be repainted.
They all under estimated Garry’s ability and determination. He really took this as a personal challenge – the man is an absolute genius. He lives for this stuff and his passion shows. The “before” pictures don’t really demonstrate how bad this boat was. The top red stripe was almost completely gone.
It’s been about a month and honestly the boat looks like the day I picked it up from Garry. I have this instant smile every time I look at it. Even the hard core skeptics that thought I was nuts are asking me for Garry’s number after seeing the boat. In a world where anybody can pick up a rotary and claim they are a detailer, it’s impressive to find a guy like Garry that is an absolute pro. He was completely honest and helpful from the beginning. He answered all of my questions and spent all the time necessary to make me feel comfortable with the process.
Restoring this boat has been very expensive. The money spent with Garry was the best investment I made. If anybody needs this type of work done – trust me – don’t waste time paying amateurs and getting poor results. Get the best and have Garry take care of it.
Garry – Thanks again. I will be happily driving across the state the next time I need any of my cars or boats done. :dblthumb2:

That is something we should all strive to get people to say :props:
 
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