Aluminum Canoe

[BlueZero]

Originally Posted by RTexasF

Here is the all time winner for an aluminum boat:

Blinded by the Shine! - Car Care Forums: Meguiar's Online

+1 As soon as I saw the title I went looking for that link. Tim did an amazing job on that boat.

[abbeysdad]

Assuming I can get this clean/polished, can anyone suggest a protective coating for unpainted aluminum?

[abbeysdad]

Originally Posted by abbeysdad

Assuming I can get this clean/polished, can anyone suggest a protective coating for unpainted aluminum?

I just got a response from marathon Boat:

Anything that will help seal the aluminum from the air. That could be aluminum polish, non cleaning car wax or acrylic floor wax.

Marathon Boat Group
PO Box 549
One Grumman Way
Marathon, NY 13803
888-694-1285

But does car wax or acrylic floor wax hold up in the water?

[Setec Astronomy]

Why don't you bring it to a paint shop and get it sprayed with clear? Just bear in mind that whatever you do to it is not going to hold up indefinitely against groundings, etc.

[abbeysdad]

Originally Posted by Setec Astronomy

Why don't you bring it to a paint shop and get it sprayed with clear? Just bear in mind that whatever you do to it is not going to hold up indefinitely against groundings, etc.

That's an idea - thanks for the feedback, but I'll have to see how well it cleans up / polishes first. Like I said, in addition to just being old/oxidized, it sat in the water (years ago) in a boathouse for years so the bottom had some serious algae stain that remembering back, wouldn't scrub off. If it won't clean up really well, I wouldn't want it coated with clear. Painting could be an option I guess, but I'd rather not go that route (hearing the scraping sound the first time it's put in the water from the shore line!).

Did you ever hear of putting acrylic floor wax on a boat?

[Setec Astronomy]

I don't know nuttin' 'bout boats.

[BlueZero]

How about something like this... Metal Guard M9214 Product Information ?

[abbeysdad]

Originally Posted by BlueZero

How about something like this... Metal Guard M9214 Product Information ?

Interesting (thanks) although rated for marine use, I'm not certain about below water line use. Also, it would take a bunch of spray cans to cover the hull of a 17' canoe (prolly at least 4).
I was also steered to this Sharkhide stuff:
sharkhide.com
Which looks really good, but costs $60 a quart. I'm thinking I'd need a gallon for two coats...

First is to clean her up. I'm gonna try the following (and would appreciate any thoughts on process)...

1) Spray with APC (SG), dwell and power wash.
2) Scrub (manual or mechanical) with Scotchbrite pad and paste (edit2: CAMEO Aluminum and Stainless Steel cleaner)
3) Power wash. Repeat step 2 as needed.
4) Polish with Noxon metal polish (pc/wool pad).

5) Seal w/? (edit: Collinite 845 or Future acrylic floor wax).

[abbeysdad]

It occurs to me that Klasse (KAIO / KSG) is an Acrylic (and I have jugs of the stuff) so now I'm thinking that once I get her all cleaned and polished, I'll do a KAIO & KSG and then top with Collinite Paste Fleetwax #885.