For those of you that ask about restoring the gel coat rather than painting, I found this article on another boat forum. The guy goes thru a step by step process, I use the same products as he does. Some of the steps I left out when I buffed the Pulse170 (black) back to a brillant shine.
The article:
Try these products (for Gel-Coat)
The Cliff Note Version:
Steps:
#1-Clean the hull with an acid base cleaner like FSR or On & Off to remove the staining.
#2-Wet Sand by hand 600 then move up the grits to P1000 (only if severely oxidized other wise start below)
#3-3M Marine Super Duty Rubbing Compound (use a wool 3M super buff COMPOUND grade pad)
#4-3M Finesse It (Use a foam 3M #05725 pad)
#5-(OPTIONAL STEP) Meguiars #9 Swirl Remover (professional grade automotive product tan bottle - Use 3M #05725 pad)
#6-Collinite #885 Fleet Wax Paste Version- or any top quality carnuba paste wax
The Full Detailed Version:
Tools & Supplies:
To be successful in completing this project you'll need a few items first. Don’t be bashful in pulling out the wallet for these supplies, and while you do, think about how much money you’re saving over a new AwlGrip Paint Job. The tools for this project can be used, and will last, for years and years and with each use they cost you less.
#1) Buffer- A good Buffer is an absolute necessity! Unfortunately, one of the cheapies from Wal*Mart or Auto Zone doesn’t count as quality. If you’re buffing a Yugo these “budget buffers” might work but not on a 30+ foot sail boat. These “cheapies” ultimately can’t handle the loads & run either too fast or too slow for the material & pad combination you are using. A thumb controlled speed dial will be the best money you spend on an orbital buffer. I use a Makita model 9227C and it’s proven itself to be a reliable and top quality machine. The 9227C comes equipped with a thumb dial for easy access and instantaneous speed control and turns speeds from 600 rpm to 3000 rpm. The difference between my Makita and my old Sears Craftsman is like night and day!
There are many manufacturers of speed-controlled circular buffers but Makita, Milwaukee, Flex (German company) & DeWalt build the best and most reliable units. When buying a buffer it’s very important to buy a unit with a “no load” motor set up. “No load” means that no matter how much pressure you put on the buffer it will still spin at the speed you set it at! While some of the thrifty boaters out there will no doubt find a cheapy knock off buffer that will work it most likely will not last as long or give consistently good results.
Buffer features that matter are: 1) No load speed. 2) Weight (lighter is better when working overhead). 3)Thumb control speed dial. 4) Low speeds 600 rpm is a very useful speed but many circular buffers have a slow speed of 1000 rpm. 5) Soft start this helps prevent sling upon start up.
#2)Buffing Pads- You will need two or three grades of buffing pads or discs. I only recommend 3M pads because they are easy to find and most Napa Auto Parts stores stock them. The 3M heavy wool Superbuff pads are great for compounding and the 3M foam polishing grade pads #05725 are wonderful for adding the finishing touch. Use a heavy wool compounding grade pad for the compounding, and a polishing grade wool or the #05725 for the polishing stage and the same #05725 foam pad for the finishing or glazing stage.
I’ll use 3M professional grade foam pads #05725 for the polish & glaze stage but I generally use Lake Country CCS pads. When buffing a gelcoat hull it’s very important to match the aggressiveness of the pad to the phase of the buffing. Very important!! You will NEVER get a good final shine using a heavy compounding grade pad even if you’re using Finesse It or Meguiar’s #9 with it!
If you want better pads than 3M I have been using pads by a company called Lake Country and they are incredible pads. The pads I use with the Makita are the Lake Country CCS 7.5” pads. The color of the pad denotes its level of aggressiveness. Lake Country pads can be purchased from AutoGeek.com.
#3) Microfiber Rags- Honestly these are the best invention for buffing & waxing since the buffing machine. I’ve been using microfibers for years and years on antique cars and trust me they have come way, way down in price since their introduction.
A pack of three microfiber rags used to cost me in the vicinity of $29.00 but now you can buy a pack of three at an auto parts store or, gulp, even Wal*Mart, for about $3.00-$4.00. Occasionally Sam’s Club will have them in 18 or 24 packs for about $12.00. When buying microfiber rags be very wary & conscious of the quality. A good rag will look more like a good quality terry cloth towel, with thick full loops. In short, it will be nice and robust and the quality will be visible to the naked eye. Even the worst quality microfiber rags will still outperform the best quality terry cloth so don’t worry too much. Again, these rags are amazing and they will save you time! Trying to compare terry cloth or cotton rags to microfiber rags, for this job, is like pairing Michael Moore & Bode Miller in a ski race. There is NO comparison so don’t cut this corner!!
#4) Wet Sand Paper- Usually any good quality wet-sand paper like 3M is fine and grits of 600-1000 are what will be necessary. If your hull does not need a wet sanding don’t bother buying it.
#5) Compounds- All compounds are not created equally. NEVER buy any compound that uses terms like “essential oils” or has the word “silicone” in the label. Compounds with these additives are for novices who don’t understand the concept behind compounding. Unfortunately, these products, like 95% of the “one step” products will give a false & premature shine. This premature shine is caused by the “essential oils” or “silicone” & will cause you to stop polishing before you’ve actually polished anything due to this false shine.
While I really like Meguiar’s line of products, their blue bottle “marine “ products are a not the best Meguiar’s has to offer. These Meguiar’s “marine” products are geared towards novice users and will not give the results of their “pro-line” tan bottle cousins designed for the auto body industry. The “blue bottle” marine line is laden with “essential oils”. If you are buying and using Meguiar’s buy the pro grade stuff in the tan bottles not the blue bottle stuff sold a marine stores.
Perhaps the best, of the easily available compounds, is 3M Marine Super Rubbing Compound. I’ve used it with very good success over the years and it works. Is it the best compound? No. Do I regularly use it when compounding? No, but I still do on occasion. 3M Marine Super Duty Rubbing Compound is a very good product and it would be considered “paint shop safe” meaning it contains no “cheater oils” like silicone.
If you want very, very good products look up Presta Products on-line. These are sold only through body shop distributors and are water based (zero oils), expensive, but also worth every penny. For the average Joe who wants his boat shiny go with 3M. If you’re part of the anal-retentive crowd, who will settle for nothing but the best, do yourself a favor and look into Presta or Menzerna Products.
#6) Polish- After the compounding phase you’ll need to polish. 3M Finesse It II is a great choice for a polish. I’ve used many bottles of Finesse It II and it’s readily available and “paint shop safe”. Unfortunately, Finesse It II does have some chemical binders or carriers in it that give a minimal pre-mature shine. A quick wipe down with a spray bottle of denatured alcohol and a rag gets rid of this so you can see the real shine you’ve created.
Again, for the anal retentive Presta Chroma 1500 is my #1 choice for both polishing and glazing. This unique product uses diminishing grit media that starts out similar to Finesse It II but finishes like a glaze thus avoiding another full step!! Chroma 1500 is expensive, and hard to find, but simply amazing and a huge time saver. For 95% of boaters though 3M Finesse It II will be more than adequate.
The Process:
Buffing and waxing a boat the right way takes time and is a commitment. On a gelcoat hull of 36 feet I plan on about 12 hours each spring for doing a three-step polish, glaze & wax or about 6-8 hours for a two-step glaze & wax. Once you get caught up, after your first re-condition including a wet sanding or compounding, it's usually only a step process each spring. Unfortunately, the first season of re-conditioning may take you up to 40 hours if your hull is heavily oxidized.
One Step Products: Contrary to popular belief there is no such thing as a one step solution for wet sanding, compounding, polishing and waxing a fiberglass hull. The saying "you get what you pay for" is true and an $10.00 - $18.00 bottle of "one step" cleaner wax does not cut it if you truly want your boat looking Bristol condition like it just rolled out of the Hinckley barn. Body shops don’t use one step products why should you? Unless you're pinched by time, and are satisfied with a half baked job, and many boat owners will be, you may want to stop reading here. Using a one step cleaner wax is like going to the “touch-less” car wash and ordering the “wax” option for a Porsche. It’s just not the same as doing it the hard & old-fashioned way.
Cleaning the hull: Before wet sanding or compounding can begin you should thoroughly clean the hull. For this process use On & Off is basically FSR without the gel. However, you can wash much faster with ON & OFF than you can with FSR. The ON & OFF will bring back the white of the hull by removing the stains. You'll be amazed at the difference in the color of your hull! Even hulls that don’t look bad look amazing after a thorough washing with On & Off. This is a very good place to start before waxing if your boat is older than a few years. Be very careful not to get On & Off or FSR on aluminum rub rails, metals, stanchions, cleats etc. because it will pit them. Only apply FSR or On & Off to the hull!
The article:
Try these products (for Gel-Coat)
The Cliff Note Version:
Steps:
#1-Clean the hull with an acid base cleaner like FSR or On & Off to remove the staining.
#2-Wet Sand by hand 600 then move up the grits to P1000 (only if severely oxidized other wise start below)
#3-3M Marine Super Duty Rubbing Compound (use a wool 3M super buff COMPOUND grade pad)
#4-3M Finesse It (Use a foam 3M #05725 pad)
#5-(OPTIONAL STEP) Meguiars #9 Swirl Remover (professional grade automotive product tan bottle - Use 3M #05725 pad)
#6-Collinite #885 Fleet Wax Paste Version- or any top quality carnuba paste wax
The Full Detailed Version:
Tools & Supplies:
To be successful in completing this project you'll need a few items first. Don’t be bashful in pulling out the wallet for these supplies, and while you do, think about how much money you’re saving over a new AwlGrip Paint Job. The tools for this project can be used, and will last, for years and years and with each use they cost you less.
#1) Buffer- A good Buffer is an absolute necessity! Unfortunately, one of the cheapies from Wal*Mart or Auto Zone doesn’t count as quality. If you’re buffing a Yugo these “budget buffers” might work but not on a 30+ foot sail boat. These “cheapies” ultimately can’t handle the loads & run either too fast or too slow for the material & pad combination you are using. A thumb controlled speed dial will be the best money you spend on an orbital buffer. I use a Makita model 9227C and it’s proven itself to be a reliable and top quality machine. The 9227C comes equipped with a thumb dial for easy access and instantaneous speed control and turns speeds from 600 rpm to 3000 rpm. The difference between my Makita and my old Sears Craftsman is like night and day!
There are many manufacturers of speed-controlled circular buffers but Makita, Milwaukee, Flex (German company) & DeWalt build the best and most reliable units. When buying a buffer it’s very important to buy a unit with a “no load” motor set up. “No load” means that no matter how much pressure you put on the buffer it will still spin at the speed you set it at! While some of the thrifty boaters out there will no doubt find a cheapy knock off buffer that will work it most likely will not last as long or give consistently good results.
Buffer features that matter are: 1) No load speed. 2) Weight (lighter is better when working overhead). 3)Thumb control speed dial. 4) Low speeds 600 rpm is a very useful speed but many circular buffers have a slow speed of 1000 rpm. 5) Soft start this helps prevent sling upon start up.
#2)Buffing Pads- You will need two or three grades of buffing pads or discs. I only recommend 3M pads because they are easy to find and most Napa Auto Parts stores stock them. The 3M heavy wool Superbuff pads are great for compounding and the 3M foam polishing grade pads #05725 are wonderful for adding the finishing touch. Use a heavy wool compounding grade pad for the compounding, and a polishing grade wool or the #05725 for the polishing stage and the same #05725 foam pad for the finishing or glazing stage.
I’ll use 3M professional grade foam pads #05725 for the polish & glaze stage but I generally use Lake Country CCS pads. When buffing a gelcoat hull it’s very important to match the aggressiveness of the pad to the phase of the buffing. Very important!! You will NEVER get a good final shine using a heavy compounding grade pad even if you’re using Finesse It or Meguiar’s #9 with it!
If you want better pads than 3M I have been using pads by a company called Lake Country and they are incredible pads. The pads I use with the Makita are the Lake Country CCS 7.5” pads. The color of the pad denotes its level of aggressiveness. Lake Country pads can be purchased from AutoGeek.com.
#3) Microfiber Rags- Honestly these are the best invention for buffing & waxing since the buffing machine. I’ve been using microfibers for years and years on antique cars and trust me they have come way, way down in price since their introduction.
A pack of three microfiber rags used to cost me in the vicinity of $29.00 but now you can buy a pack of three at an auto parts store or, gulp, even Wal*Mart, for about $3.00-$4.00. Occasionally Sam’s Club will have them in 18 or 24 packs for about $12.00. When buying microfiber rags be very wary & conscious of the quality. A good rag will look more like a good quality terry cloth towel, with thick full loops. In short, it will be nice and robust and the quality will be visible to the naked eye. Even the worst quality microfiber rags will still outperform the best quality terry cloth so don’t worry too much. Again, these rags are amazing and they will save you time! Trying to compare terry cloth or cotton rags to microfiber rags, for this job, is like pairing Michael Moore & Bode Miller in a ski race. There is NO comparison so don’t cut this corner!!
#4) Wet Sand Paper- Usually any good quality wet-sand paper like 3M is fine and grits of 600-1000 are what will be necessary. If your hull does not need a wet sanding don’t bother buying it.
#5) Compounds- All compounds are not created equally. NEVER buy any compound that uses terms like “essential oils” or has the word “silicone” in the label. Compounds with these additives are for novices who don’t understand the concept behind compounding. Unfortunately, these products, like 95% of the “one step” products will give a false & premature shine. This premature shine is caused by the “essential oils” or “silicone” & will cause you to stop polishing before you’ve actually polished anything due to this false shine.
While I really like Meguiar’s line of products, their blue bottle “marine “ products are a not the best Meguiar’s has to offer. These Meguiar’s “marine” products are geared towards novice users and will not give the results of their “pro-line” tan bottle cousins designed for the auto body industry. The “blue bottle” marine line is laden with “essential oils”. If you are buying and using Meguiar’s buy the pro grade stuff in the tan bottles not the blue bottle stuff sold a marine stores.
Perhaps the best, of the easily available compounds, is 3M Marine Super Rubbing Compound. I’ve used it with very good success over the years and it works. Is it the best compound? No. Do I regularly use it when compounding? No, but I still do on occasion. 3M Marine Super Duty Rubbing Compound is a very good product and it would be considered “paint shop safe” meaning it contains no “cheater oils” like silicone.
If you want very, very good products look up Presta Products on-line. These are sold only through body shop distributors and are water based (zero oils), expensive, but also worth every penny. For the average Joe who wants his boat shiny go with 3M. If you’re part of the anal-retentive crowd, who will settle for nothing but the best, do yourself a favor and look into Presta or Menzerna Products.
#6) Polish- After the compounding phase you’ll need to polish. 3M Finesse It II is a great choice for a polish. I’ve used many bottles of Finesse It II and it’s readily available and “paint shop safe”. Unfortunately, Finesse It II does have some chemical binders or carriers in it that give a minimal pre-mature shine. A quick wipe down with a spray bottle of denatured alcohol and a rag gets rid of this so you can see the real shine you’ve created.
Again, for the anal retentive Presta Chroma 1500 is my #1 choice for both polishing and glazing. This unique product uses diminishing grit media that starts out similar to Finesse It II but finishes like a glaze thus avoiding another full step!! Chroma 1500 is expensive, and hard to find, but simply amazing and a huge time saver. For 95% of boaters though 3M Finesse It II will be more than adequate.
The Process:
Buffing and waxing a boat the right way takes time and is a commitment. On a gelcoat hull of 36 feet I plan on about 12 hours each spring for doing a three-step polish, glaze & wax or about 6-8 hours for a two-step glaze & wax. Once you get caught up, after your first re-condition including a wet sanding or compounding, it's usually only a step process each spring. Unfortunately, the first season of re-conditioning may take you up to 40 hours if your hull is heavily oxidized.
One Step Products: Contrary to popular belief there is no such thing as a one step solution for wet sanding, compounding, polishing and waxing a fiberglass hull. The saying "you get what you pay for" is true and an $10.00 - $18.00 bottle of "one step" cleaner wax does not cut it if you truly want your boat looking Bristol condition like it just rolled out of the Hinckley barn. Body shops don’t use one step products why should you? Unless you're pinched by time, and are satisfied with a half baked job, and many boat owners will be, you may want to stop reading here. Using a one step cleaner wax is like going to the “touch-less” car wash and ordering the “wax” option for a Porsche. It’s just not the same as doing it the hard & old-fashioned way.
Cleaning the hull: Before wet sanding or compounding can begin you should thoroughly clean the hull. For this process use On & Off is basically FSR without the gel. However, you can wash much faster with ON & OFF than you can with FSR. The ON & OFF will bring back the white of the hull by removing the stains. You'll be amazed at the difference in the color of your hull! Even hulls that don’t look bad look amazing after a thorough washing with On & Off. This is a very good place to start before waxing if your boat is older than a few years. Be very careful not to get On & Off or FSR on aluminum rub rails, metals, stanchions, cleats etc. because it will pit them. Only apply FSR or On & Off to the hull!