How to "brighten" up my boats finish?

[rdm190]

I have a 1984 Wellcraft 24' Aftcabin with fiberglass hull

The boat's major section is white with a large blue stripe across the top and blue "below water" paint.

The paint feels very rough and I cannot get it to smooth out and shine up. I used to detail cars for a side job when I was a kid and none of my car paint methods have even put a dent in the finish. The finish does not look "bad" but I would just like to give it some of the new boat shine I see at the marina every day (I know it will never look new again )

-Ryan

 

[gcboat]

Re: How to "brighten" up my boats finish?

Are you trying to put a shine on the blue bottom paint?? If you are you are wasting your time and the integrity of the paint itself. It's not made to be shiny. It is there to keep 'crud' from adhering to your bottom. Things like barnicles, grasses, etc. Usually a bottom paint will erode after a certain time which is what the paint is intended to do. If you find the finish of this paint to be unattractive then you will need to sand it down ( not for a beginner) and recoat. You might get a marina or shipstore to soda blast it off but the cost of doing this overwhelms the "appearance" . Leave it alone, it is there for a reason. And you should renew this every so often.

 

[rdm190]

Re: How to "brighten" up my boats finish?

Are you trying to put a shine on the blue bottom paint?? If you are you are wasting your time and the integrity of the paint itself. It's not made to be shiny. It is there to keep 'crud' from adhering to your bottom. Things like barnicles, grasses, etc. Usually a bottom paint will erode after a certain time which is what the paint is intended to do. If you find the finish of this paint to be unattractive then you will need to sand it down ( not for a beginner) and recoat. You might get a marina or shipstore to soda blast it off but the cost of doing this overwhelms the "appearance" . Leave it alone, it is there for a reason. And you should renew this every so often.

No, no, no. I wasn't talking about the bottom paint, sorry if I was missleading. I want the above water paint to shine again!!

 

[snlgraham]

Re: How to "brighten" up my boats finish?

Here is what I did. My gel coat is very old(1980). I new it wouldn't ever look new. It did however, come out pretty good. First I buffed with "Meguiar's oxidation remover - heavy duty gel coat cleaner". Be gentle with this stuff. you can go right through the gel coat. I cleaned the hull with acetone, then I put on the "Star-brite instant Glass cote". This is a Urethane type product that needs to be stripped and re-applied every year. Man I did not expect it to look so good.
This year I wiped down the hull with acetone and reapplied the glass cote. still looks good.
I probably would not use this type of product if the finish was not so far gone. Don't know how it would do in saltwater.
Good luck

Shawn

 

[thunderroad]

Re: How to "brighten" up my boats finish?

Check out this site... http://www.dakotashine.com/home.html

The CaseIH sprayers we sell have a red fibreglass nose on them. After several years of sunlight they turn an awful pinkish color. There is still paint on them but nothing would bring it back to stay for any extended length of time. We learned of these products at an Ag trade show and tried them. The results were amazing. We've been using it for 3 years now and the sprayers we did the first year still look great. I totally shocked my brother when I applied it to the faded blue stripe on his Bayliner and got the same reaction from a buddy when I convinced him to put it on the red top area of his 68 Starcraft. Comes in aerosol or ready to spray gallons. One tip....don't let them fool you with the prep solution. We've found that soap and water, followed by a clear rinse does just as well. It's mainly just to make sure any wax is removed.

 

[Plainsman]

Re: How to "brighten" up my boats finish?

Look at this thread by Mark42

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=60258&highlight=comet