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Is there a clearcoat n older Checkmates?

paulsboats said:
for primer Dave...i have used 80 grit before to get clear coat off.then to 400,600 and a good buff with aqua buff 1000.
Click to expand...

I get what your saying now. So I guess the question at hand is how aggressive of a paper can be used and still get a good finish as the end result.
 
I got some 220 disks today and started on a section and it seems to b perfect, it is taking off the stuff I wanted to take off and it doesn't seem to be to coarse either, I hit it with 600 for a few passes and it looks like it's ready for polish. I might hit with 1000 b4 compounding, I think it is going to polish up a really nice, I'm going to take my deck hardware off, and roll up my sleeves, I'll keep you guys posted n post some pictures when I get somewhere. rain is coming now... I have a full cover that I power washed and put waterproofing on and I'm going to put snaps on it so that I can use it even when the boat is in the water, so hopefully once it is shiny it will stay that way....
 
I took everything from the rubrail up off when I did mine, made the job much easier. I wouldn't stop at 1000. Look at the compound you're going to use, the ones I picked up told you what grit sandpaper scratches it would take out, I would say ago at least to 1200 if not 1500. If you skimp any steps it will not come out as good as it could.
 
I had already done a section with 1000, then 3m heavy duty marine compound, then 3m glaze, and 3m cleaner wax and it came out awesome, i also have 3m ultrafine machine polish im going to use for the final step, with all the steps i dont think ill need more than 1000 prior (i will do the 1000 though, i dont think 600 is enough b4 compound)
 
Yup, mine is like that, under all those spots and the darker blue a nice bright blue will come up, get some 220 and a DA sander and do the back deck lid, what have you got to lose. My lid came up bright red. I can't wait to do the whole thing.
 
Ma http://db.tt/IeRkwxvf

This was my deck lid, I was working on it forever with 600 wetsand. I'm not home now I'll post a pic later but now all the dark red and spots are gone after just 10 mins drysanding with 220 and a few passes with 600 it looks like it's ready for polish now, I will hit it with 1000 quick first tho
 
http://db.tt/8ErvDRqT

Here is now, the raised star part has been polished a little bit the background is still only done 220 dry then with 600 wetsand, I wiped it with a damp cloth so you can see how it will shine, but when it's dry right now it still looks hazy
 
I spent all day Saturday on my deck, it looks good from a few feet away, definitely better that it did look but there are some thin spots and I don't know how well it will hold up. I really wouldn't recommend this process, if you look close too you can see small scratches from the 220, that's after 220 dry then 600 wet, 1000 wet, 2000 trizact wet, 3m compound, glaze and cleaner wax. I didn't do the 3m final finishing wax yet. If you can you are much better off painting. It was A LOT of work, I really rushed it too, if you are going to do this I'd suggest having shelter for the boat o you can do it in stages rather than try to do it all in one day like I did
 
I think the 220 dry was a mistake. I will know when I'm ready to buff my deck out. I went 220 wet as that was the only way I saw any results, followed by 600, 800, 1200 then 1500. All sanding stages done wet and on a D.A. I have hand sanded any of the little squigly lines from dirt on the paper with 1200 wet. I have one side ready to buff and have made it too 800 on the other. Hopefully I will buff in the next few weeks.
 
Refinished the deck in April and it looked great for 2 months. Today it looks as it did before all the effort. Milky and dull.

I don't think there's anyway but to shoot a few coats of clear before all of the buffing.
 
If you keep it out of the sun it will last a lot longer. Mine stays in a carport and has a cover over it inside there to boot. I think more of a mistake than starting with 220 was skipping the grades in between that and 600. Doing gel like this is not much different than polishing a piece of aluminum. If you skip steps you will not get the best possible results. Hopefully I'll get to have a look in person in a week or two. :)
 
I progressively worked my way down to 220, and even 220 was a lot of work to get it down to clean gelcoat, I could tell I didn't want to go any more aggressive than that but not until I did the whole deck did I find that some spots would be too thin to get the little scratches out in the end. I really had nothing to lose, my deck looked awful. I'll see how it holds up and maybe get it painted one day.
 
No, the other direction. When you were at 220 and skipped to 600 on the way back up that was not a good idea IMHO.
 
Maybe I should have done something between the 220 and 600. I guess we will know soon enough. I will buff a small section and if I have to get back into it I will. I have more time than money and the paper is free.
 
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