Poli-glow and decal advice

[bowler]

Hi all,

Inspired by vegasphotomans recommendation of poliglow I have just bought some online. The plan is to use it to restore the faded dark red/purple gel coat on my '96 maxum 1750. Anyone ever used it and willing to offer advice/share experience? My boats gelcoat has some oxidization, should i remove this before applying or should i progress as instructed after a good wash?

Also, I plan to remove some of the gold pinstriping which looks awful, will a heat gun and scraper do the job? I've used this method on cars and vans but never fibreglass/gelcoat.

I like fast results by the way

Thanks in advance,

D.

 

[bowler]

Re: Poli-glow and decal advice

bump

 

[Ken Barber]

Re: Poli-glow and decal advice

Hi Bowler,

I completed both projects you are facing. I took a mess of decals and tape stripes off of my 89 center console using a hairdryer and lots of patience. The decals were multi layered, but with effort came off slowly but surely. The tape came off easier concentrating the hairdryer on it as you pull SLOWLY. These were on there since 1989!

Then, you could see the ghosts of all those decals on the finish. I tried waxing, but you could still see the ghost marks, so I tried Poliglow. I love this stuff! Just follow the directions to the letter - very important to clean with their products first. Then, minumum of 5-6 coats of Poliglow for the first time out. And, let it cure for at least a week to get hard. If you go out the next day, it will rub off if you contact any moorring balls, bumpers, etc.

I am on my third season with Poliglow. i just ad 2-3 coats in the spring, and I am good for the season. it still looks great and the best thing is that the ghosts have dissapeared for good. I just added my two coats this week for the new season. Great stuff!

i hope the picture will upload so you can see the results.

 

[bowler]

Re: Poli-glow and decal advice

Thanks for the reply. Haven't checked this thread in a while! I got the decals off anyways - heat gun and patience like you say. The poliglow has arrived but I'm waiting on new graphics from the US so need those to appear first. It gave me time to prep the boat anyway which is red/purple and badly oxidised. 2 full days of me and my dad sanding with 600 then buffing with rubbing compound with an electric polisher - it was far from fun!

The boat is now in a condition that appears shiny when wet so I literally cant wait to get the poliglow on. Hopefully the decals will arrive soon and I can get started.

One more thing, there are a few quite deep scratches on the hull that I can't sand out - I dont suppose there is any secret way of touching these up you are aware of. Can't see the poliglow hiding them!

Cheers,

D.

 

[Greg Mrozinski]

Re: Poli-glow and decal advice

Bowler,

I to have used Poli-glo on my big boat (35' Aft Cabin) and it works well. The key is preparation before application. Any inconsistancy you see on the surface will get locked in with the Poli-glo. In order to get all the staining out of the gel coat I used their Poli-ox cleaner first and their scrubbing pad. I carefully scrubbed every square inch. This reallly removes all of the deep down dirt first and even out the surface appearance. This will also remove any residual waxes. Then use the poli-prep as directed right before you apply. Also, if you stop application mid-stream and let it sit over night give the remaining surface a quick wipe down with Poli-prep before preceeeding. Also I found washing out the applicator pad a couple of times as you go along helps make applying it easier and smoother. It will take at least five to six coats and you won't see the real shine until the final coat(s).

The surface scratches (if shallow) will need to be filled with a matching gel coat before you poli-glo. If its a deep scratch than then you will need to sand it out, fair, sand, gel coat, wet sand up to 1600, compound and then poli-glo.

 

[bowler]

Re: Poli-glow and decal advice

well, i did the poliglow and decal work and it turned out really well. one problem i have noticed is that the poliglow coating does not take well to fender rub and has a tendancy to kind of wear off. i'm thinking that covering the fenders may solve the problem.