Boat detailing

[Flexin]

I have a guy that wants me to detail his boat. Its about 18` I guess and its dull. He wanted me to buff it. I gave him a price and he was fine with it. Now I guess he called the shop saying that he was talking to some guys that know boats and that I should wet sand this whole boat to bring out the color more? Is this true? I know how to wet sand but I don`t feel like wetsanding that damn boat.

James

[Beemerboy]

Whats the finish of the boat, how old, how was it stored?

If its fiberglass then I`ve never heard of this ever.

[Flexin]

The main thing he is worried about is the red stripe going down the side of the boat. Its really dull. So I have to do from there up. The way I see it is the boat is just oxidized and isn`t in that bad of shape.

James

[Flexin]

BTW I`m guessing the boat is about 10 years old. It was buffed last year by him. Its fiberglass. I think it was stored outside under a cover.

James

[GregCavi]

We need Pappy to chime in. I from what pappy has kind of showed me and told me dont think that if would need a wetsanding. Pappy tells me that they use a rotary on almost all boats except reasonably new ones. I have seen some amazing pics of what pappy has done with oxidition.

Greg

[Exquisite]

I have not heard of the wetsanding thing, however I just finished a 35` RV that was oxidized and I used my rotary with a wool pad and Meguiars #49 Oxidation Remover along with AIO. It is made for Boats/RV`s and it worked great for me. I would try some AIO by hand first to see how oxidized it is and then go from there.

[TrueDetailer]

Personally, I wouldn`t wetsand the boat. I`d scrub it down and get the rpm`s up on a rotary and buff the hell out of it and get it shinning.

[Beemerboy]

I have yet to see any oxidiztion that has required wet sanding. I think that this was a way for the boat dealer to throw up some smoke and mirrors to get the business.

If you have a PC I would start and cut with a light cut compound and a cutting pad. This should lift the oxidiztion then polish with a decent polish. I did one with PB P-W-C that was killer, then followed up with a sealant

On the red stipe area do that all by hand so that you can see if you are lifting paint or the stipe. I doubt that you will have any problems.

[Flexin]

Here is the boat and a spot with AIO.




James

[Flexin]

This boat is going to kill me. nton

James

[Exquisite]

Wow that is definately a big job! That is exactly how the RV I did this passed weekend was. Anyhow, did the AIO remove all the oxidation or can you still see some light oxidation?

[Flexin]

Wow that is definately a big job! That is exactly how the RV I did this passed weekend was. Anyhow, did the AIO remove all the oxidation or can you still see some light oxidation?

It did remove some butI still see what looks like some light oxidation or just fading. The heavy oxidation is harder to remove. Any ideas?

James

[Exquisite]

If AIO doesn`t remove it completely I would try Meguiars #49 Oxidation Remover for marine/RV use. However it does require machine use such as a PC or rotary. My procedure was #49 w/wool pad on 1200-1500rpms and then I followed up with AIO w/polishing pad and I then topped with NXT. You may want to check out a local Marine store as they typically sell products for these types of problems. Let us know how it turns out!

[pappy]

ok.....im here. just found this thread.

so it looks in really bad shape. wetsanding is not necissary and takes way to long to do. we just got done wetsanding a whole 50 foot boat. waterline up. it was not fun and it did nothing for the finish. but for this boat what i would do is get some 3m or meguiars compound. compound the whole thing out with a rotary. u will find a huge diffrence. just make sure not to grind on it to hard or u will be in swirl heaven. make nice even passes up and down only.(i find if u move up and down in lil circular motions the swirls are less visible. ) then go and get some 3m cleaner and wax or restorer and wax and rotary that one as well. same way of doin it. just use an aplicater to put it on. then buff it off. after that u can opt for another pass if needed or you can put on some 3m wax. make sure all these products are marine line. it will help because cleaner wax for cars is alot diffrent then cleaner wax for boats.


if you dont want to do the compound then maybe just try 3m restorer and wax. that may be able to cut through it....and it will save you time. try a chunk out and see what the results are. with it being red you will have to be EXTREMELY careful of swirls......dont be all over the place with the rotary or it will show.

[Flexin]

ok.....im here. just found this thread.

so it looks in really bad shape. wetsanding is not necissary and takes way to long to do. we just got done wetsanding a whole 50 foot boat. waterline up. it was not fun and it did nothing for the finish. but for this boat what i would do is get some 3m or meguiars compound. compound the whole thing out with a rotary. u will find a huge diffrence. just make sure not to grind on it to hard or u will be in swirl heaven. make nice even passes up and down only.(i find if u move up and down in lil circular motions the swirls are less visible. ) then go and get some 3m cleaner and wax or restorer and wax and rotary that one as well. same way of doin it. just use an aplicater to put it on. then buff it off. after that u can opt for another pass if needed or you can put on some 3m wax. make sure all these products are marine line. it will help because cleaner wax for cars is alot diffrent then cleaner wax for boats.


if you dont want to do the compound then maybe just try 3m restorer and wax. that may be able to cut through it....and it will save you time. try a chunk out and see what the results are. with it being red you will have to be EXTREMELY careful of swirls......dont be all over the place with the rotary or it will show.

Thanks. Today I bought Collinite`s #920 Fiberglass cleaner and #925 wax. I will try to pick up some Megs marine conpound tonight or tomorrow. Thanks

James