New (to me) boat, how would you attack this?

[sprtslvr785]

I just got an 89 Supra Comp ski boat last weekend and I am planning on removing the pink/raspberry colored stripes that are going down the side of the boat and am going to put the newer style supra decals on it. But I would like to make the boat really shine before I would do this because I know that decals can sometimes play hell with buffers and wax.

I have the porter cable buffer so thats what I will be working with... The boat has a pretty decent shine on it now but I know that it can be made better.

Here are some pics.

[weekendwarrior]

I may be strange, but I like the stripes...has a retro, 80's style, Miami Vice look to it - LOL

[sprtslvr785]

Yeah those stripes are coming off.... not to fond of the pink crap...nor the blue but I got a good deal on it so I will find a way to make it look nice.

[El Camino Kid]

Steam should help remove them but I'm not 100% sure.

[sprtslvr785]

Well I am going to use a heat gun to get the stickers off, I just want to know what process I should go about using on this job. And what pads I should use with them and if it is necessary to wetsand before.

[murf'n'surf]

Hard to tell from the pics if the gelcoat has any fade/oxidation. Looks like it is in garage kept shape so I would think your basic 3M cleaner wax followed by LSP will shine'er'up. You might want to check how much color difference there is under those decals --- sometimes the color is so much darker that it can be a real bear to match the rest of the hull.

[sprtslvr785]

Ok went out today and played in the driveway

Took the heat gun and some elbow grease and tried getting all of the stickers off the side of the boat. Not sure if you will be able to tell from the pics but its almost like there is a wax buildup along all of the edges of the stickers and there is a little color difference too. So I thought well, im going to try wetsanding it with 1500 grit sandpaper and getting out the pc and try to polish it...well from what I could tell I need to go up to like a 2000 grit sandpaper or get a little "rougher" pad...I only have a polishing pad right now.

Let me know if this is how you guys would try to correct this problem is wetsanding and polishing.

[sprtslvr785]

pics didnt work...


Here it is after wetsanding with 1500 grit and polishing with Mequires show car polish... cant really tell from the pics but it seems I need a little heavier pad or something




Outine of old wax






One side off


Before

[Greg Nichols]

If you really want to compound this boat you are going to need a rotary, a PC will just not cut the gel coat. The PC will restore some gloss, but not resurface the gel and correct the imperfections. I don't think the PC will truly remove the 1500 grit sanding marks in a gel coat.

Cheers,
GREG

[sprtslvr785]

Well..thats the thing. I dont have a rotary I only have the porter cable. So thats what I am going to have to work with for now.

Even if I go to like a wool pad the pc wont do anything?

[Greg Nichols]

You do with what you have I guess.

Wool likes to be on a rotary and IME does not work on a Orbital.

well from what I could tell I need to go up to like a 2000 grit sandpaper or get a little "rougher" pad...I only have a polishing pad right now.

I think you mean to say that you need to go up from 1500 to something like 1200, rather than less grit like 2000???

If you go to a heavier grit like 1200, you will need to step down to 1500, then 2000. I think with a PC you can get out 2000 sanding marks pretty well. I just worry about all that sanding.

[sprtslvr785]

Well in the one pic of the spot in the front of the boat where I wetsanded and polished it with show car glaze you can still see a little bit of the spot where I wetsanded. So I thought if I go up to a 2000 grit sandpaper the polish would shine it right up.

Here is what i am talking about