Starliner Pre-Season Polish - Input Appreciated

[Sam I am]

C'mon man...lets see some pics! Darkness is no excuse. Turn on the headlights or something, man!

 

[atc250r]

One awful pic I took on Saturday after stripping all the stuff off but the bow rail and before I took the supports out for the winter cover:



Feel better?

Waiting for a proper fitting replacement roof after the debacle with the last one. Fortunately, the seller was really good about his top not fitting correctly and is sending me a label to return it on his dime and he is refunding all my money. Got one coming from the original maker of the carport.

John

 

[atc250r]

Finished doing the first wet sand yesterday (800 grit). Put in a little over 3 hours to get everything from the rub rail up done. One concern I'm having is that when I do the black strip or the white portion on the deck I immediately start to get the corresponding color in the water but with the red I only get a white or very slightly pinkish coloration on the paper and in the water. I was getting the same result with the two cooler covers pictured below and they came out pretty good. Should I keep sanding the red until I get some red out of it? Should I keep attacking with the 800 if I need to get the color out? If I need to I'll go get some 600 and take one step backward rather than go forward and get an inferior result.





It was kind of cold, cloudy, and damp today so I gave myself the day off from the deck itself and wrapped up the second cooler cover instead.

John

 

[Rob B]

You're doing everything right! As you sand each color the water will turn to that particular color. Use a water hose on low or enough to keep the sandpaper wet it also washes the residue off as you sand.

 

[keith4216]

Those lids look GOOD,
Can't wait to see the deck look as good.

 

[Ramifications]

Looks good! Keep up the hard work

 

[Don's89 Senator]

Your doing a great job John.. So how do you like all that wet sanding and buffing? Lot of work huh. But worth it..

 

[atc250r]

Thanks for the kind words everyone! Seeing the amount of work some of you all have put into tearing your boat down to nothing this is a walk in the park. I'm figuring hit it with 1000 tomorrow, 1500 Friday, and fire up the buffer for a long day on Saturday. If the weather cooperates Sunday I might be able to finish it up then and start reassembly next week.

As you sand each color the water will turn to that particular color.

That's what has me a little concerned Robbie, the red isn't really turning anything red as I sand it. The black and white are though. I've been using a gallon bucked filled with a hot water/dishsoap mix to dip the block in every few seconds and hosing the residue off the hull/deck well before it dries.

John

 

[Rob B]

Thanks for the kind words everyone! Seeing the amount of work some of you all have put into tearing your boat down to nothing this is a walk in the park. I'm figuring hit it with 1000 tomorrow, 1500 Friday, and fire up the buffer for a long day on Saturday. If the weather cooperates Sunday I might be able to finish it up then and start reassembly next week.



That's what has me a little concerned Robbie, the red isn't really turning anything red as I sand it. The black and white are though. I've been using a gallon bucked filled with a hot water/dishsoap mix to dip the block in every few seconds and hosing the residue off the hull/deck well before it dries.

John

The red is gonna turn a pinkish color when wet sanding. Mine did the same thing prior to having it repainted.

 

[atc250r]

Great! No need to go back a step then. Gotta round up a couple of more 3M foam pads and a second twisted wool one for this weekend. I'd rather have too many than come up short.

John

 

[Sam I am]

Lookin' good, lookin' good...

...like a good Mate should! Nice work, John! Love that RED!!!!

 

[Mark]

Finished doing the first wet sand yesterday (800 grit). Put in a little over 3 hours to get everything from the rub rail up done. One concern I'm having is that when I do the black strip or the white portion on the deck I immediately start to get the corresponding color in the water but with the red I only get a white or very slightly pinkish coloration on the paper and in the water. I was getting the same result with the two cooler covers pictured below and they came out pretty good. Should I keep sanding the red until I get some red out of it? Should I keep attacking with the 800 if I need to get the color out? If I need to I'll go get some 600 and take one step backward rather than go forward and get an inferior result.
John

I guess you know that if the color is in the water then you have gone through the clear gel. If the clear is completely oxidized you have no choice if you want to get the shine back. The down side is it oxidizes that much more quickly in the sun.

 

[keith4216]

I guess you know that if the color is in the water then you have gone through the clear gel. If the clear is completely oxidized you have no choice if you want to get the shine back. The down side is it oxidizes that much more quickly in the sun.

Alright since you said what i was thinking,
When you hit color on a car, you are threw the clear coat. To far!
Is a boat the same?

 

[Rob B]

I guess you know that if the color is in the water then you have gone through the clear gel. If the clear is completely oxidized you have no choice if you want to get the shine back. The down side is it oxidizes that much more quickly in the sun.

I didn't know that! I thought once the gelcoat is shot in the mold it comes out shiney?That's what I love this site always learn something new everyday!!

 

[atc250r]

Actually I did not know that the boat had a clear gel over the color, I ASSumed it did not. That would explain the 3 or 4 spots where it looked like someone burned through a clear with a buffer. The black and white certainly don't have anything over them, the color comes right out on them. Can't wait to get this done, people used to compliment the boat all the time before and it was kind of faded but now its going to look so much better.

John

 

[Mark]

Coop would know for sure if all colors have a clear gel but both my Mates do. My cooler lids were so badly oxidized had had no choice but to wet sand it thru the clear. You can see the difference where the clear is still intact. A much deeper shine.

 

[atc250r]

Picked up the pads for the buffer today from a local shop that has a great selection of body supplies. Unfortunately they stick it up your arse on the prices but next time I'll order the foam pads online for $25 rather than pay them $40 (including the jobber discount).

Did the top side with 1000 grit tonight, went a lot faster than the 800 did and it seems the coverage of the sanded areas is a lot better. Going to do the final sand with 1500 tomorrow and then give it a good washing so I can get started with the buffer first thing Saturday morning.

After 1000:





I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel now. I just hope the rest of it comes out as good as those cooler covers did.

John

 

[atc250r]

Hit it with 1500 tonight and gave it a thorough wash again. Some overtime came up at work so I've gotta work 6a to 2p tomorrow but I should be home by 3 and will start buffing then.

John

 

[Rob B]

Hit it with 1500 tonight and gave it a thorough wash again. Some overtime came up at work so I've gotta work 6a to 2p tomorrow but I should be home by 3 and will start buffing then.

John

Gotta love OT!! Well the guberment loves it more!

 

[atc250r]

They sure do. I have the option of taking the 12 hours pay or putting 12 hours off "in the bank" or even splitting it up so I can legitimately avoid giving the gubment some of my money. Gonna see how I feel in the morning. I can take the 12 hours off in 2 hour blocks so it comes in handy for leaving early as well as taking a whole day. I can also cash it out down the road if I want to. If we got OT more often I'd save some days but I could use the money now to pay for all this boat stuff.

John