polishing aluminum hull and have gouges.....with pics

[jtrom]

I'm leaving my bottom hull bare and want to polish the area that is visible. I have some gouges that look too deep to sand. Anything I can do besides live with them?

 

[oops!]

Re: polishing hull and have gouges.....

Re: polishing hull and have gouges.....

fill them with gellcoat.

scuff up the scratched area...clean with acetone

mix up some gellcoat paste

fill area....(this can be done with a bondo spreader just swipe over the scrape)

let cure....sand flat....to 1500 grit....polish...........gone !

 

[jtrom]

Re: polishing hull and have gouges.....

Re: polishing hull and have gouges.....

Hey Oops, my fault for not saying this is an aluminum boat...your method is for FG right?

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: polishing hull and have gouges.....

Re: polishing hull and have gouges.....

Yes it is ..

Pics please

YD.

 

[jtrom]

Re: polishing hull and have gouges.....

Re: polishing hull and have gouges.....

Here they are.........Is there anything I can do if I'm polishing this area?

 

[boatnut74]

Re: polishing hull and have gouges.....

Re: polishing hull and have gouges.....

You can feather them out using increasingly finer grits of sandpaper. I did this once and I think I started at 400 then worked my way up. Polishing will get rid of the small scratches from the sandpaper.

 

[jtrom]

Re: polishing hull and have gouges.....

Re: polishing hull and have gouges.....

So basically just sand,sand,sand!?

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: polishing hull and have gouges.....

Re: polishing hull and have gouges.....

You have WAY too much time on your hands......... stop over thinking the hull. Just do what you want and move on........ no one will notice the gouges only you will.

The sanding of the aluminum will remove the outer layer and some places will corrode (discolor) sooner. If it was my hull I would just move on.

Go ahead and start moving back from the scratches and from about 50 ft they should be gone........ and being on the bottom of the hull I have found out that the fish really don't care!

 

[Bondo]

Re: polishing hull and have gouges.....

Re: polishing hull and have gouges.....

So basically just sand,sand,sand!?

Ayuh,.... Sand those gouges out, 'n yer likely to sand Through the hull....

It's only about .063 to start with...

 

[jtrom]

Re: polishing aluminum hull and have gouges.....with pics

The boat is a 1959 Starcraft and seems thicker than todays boats. I'm not looking to sand them completely out, just minimize them.