atc250r
Well-known member
While their are almost no scrapes or scratches in the boat and the gel on the sides from the rub rail down is perfect, the top is moderately oxidized. I'm kind of surprised how bad it is for a boat that has been stored indoors all of its life as far as I can tell. I keep it in one of those instant garages as did the previous owner and the owner prior to that kept it in a pole barn. In any case, seeing how nice the red came up on ckaluger's Liner inspired me to get the gel on mine looking good. I am waiting for the new top for the "garage" to arrive so its still wrapped in its winter cover so I figured I'd remove the cooler covers and make them the guinea pig for the rest of the boat:
Lighting in the basement isn't the greatest and using the camera on my phone doesn't help matters but you get the idea. The one on the left is untouched since I went over it with 3M Color Restorer and a coat of wax back in September. FWIW that didn't put a dent in the oxidation. The one on the right was wet sanded with 1000 followed by 1200 then hit with 3M Marine Compound and Meguiar's marine wax. This was just a test to see what works. I think I need to start with 800 wet, then 1000, 1200, 1500, 2000. I think the 3M compound might be too harsh as its leaving more swirl marks than I'd consider acceptable and the wet sand didn't get quite deep enough as in person you can see a little of the haze from the oxidation. Not much but I think it could be better. All of this was with whatever the "shaggy" bonnet is that was on the Milwaukee buffer when I borrowed it for the compound and a terry cloth bonnet on my cheap little 5" Sears buffer for the wax.
I'm thinking a foam pad for the compound (possibly going to use a lighter compound), apply the wax by hand with a sponge, and then remove it with a wool bonnet on the big buffer. I'll have to kick my little Sears one to the curb for this job since I have the good one here.
Any suggestions as far as buffer speeds and pad materials would be great. The buffer I'm using has 5 positions on the knob and a top speed of 2800 rpms.
I'm planning on stripping the boat of the windshield, cleats, lights, bow cover snaps, and bow rails this Saturday to make it ready for wet sanding and buffing.
John
Lighting in the basement isn't the greatest and using the camera on my phone doesn't help matters but you get the idea. The one on the left is untouched since I went over it with 3M Color Restorer and a coat of wax back in September. FWIW that didn't put a dent in the oxidation. The one on the right was wet sanded with 1000 followed by 1200 then hit with 3M Marine Compound and Meguiar's marine wax. This was just a test to see what works. I think I need to start with 800 wet, then 1000, 1200, 1500, 2000. I think the 3M compound might be too harsh as its leaving more swirl marks than I'd consider acceptable and the wet sand didn't get quite deep enough as in person you can see a little of the haze from the oxidation. Not much but I think it could be better. All of this was with whatever the "shaggy" bonnet is that was on the Milwaukee buffer when I borrowed it for the compound and a terry cloth bonnet on my cheap little 5" Sears buffer for the wax.
I'm thinking a foam pad for the compound (possibly going to use a lighter compound), apply the wax by hand with a sponge, and then remove it with a wool bonnet on the big buffer. I'll have to kick my little Sears one to the curb for this job since I have the good one here.
Any suggestions as far as buffer speeds and pad materials would be great. The buffer I'm using has 5 positions on the knob and a top speed of 2800 rpms.
I'm planning on stripping the boat of the windshield, cleats, lights, bow cover snaps, and bow rails this Saturday to make it ready for wet sanding and buffing.
John
I'm gonna walk the dogs and go to bed now.
