Oxidized boat gel coat

Orinda Auto Detail

Orinda Auto Detail

Opti Coat Pro Certified
So I'm working on this boat and I"m shining it up no problem and getting rid of the buffer halo's no problem. But there are still surface swirls? I forgot if these will even come out of gel coat. Been a long time since I did one these. Any tips?

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Haul is done and about half the top! Wow I hate boats I remember why I don't do these a lot. I think my arms are about to fall off buffing at 3500 in very small sections then polishing. Should of went hourly instead of by the foot on this :wall oh well back to work! I'll do a write on this when I get done thanks again for the advice guys!
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Looks amazing! Hah I hear ya I work on boats predominately and its a long process to do them. The ones I work on arent small eitherI average 42' thats a lot of gelcoat to cover. I recently switched over to diminishing abrasives for the boats since you can get away with one step of compound/polishing as opposed of 2 then your LSP. Kinda like this

Silverton48C.jpg
 
I can usually do anything with the following:
Flex rotary & Wool pad with Dura gloss 561
Then orbital, foam pad and dura gloss 501
 
L&I Detailing said:
Looks amazing! Hah I hear ya I work on boats predominately and its a long process to do them. The ones I work on arent small eitherI average 42' thats a lot of gelcoat to cover. I recently switched over to diminishing abrasives for the boats since you can get away with one step of compound/polishing as opposed of 2 then your LSP. Kinda like this

Silverton48C.jpg
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What products are using? I'm using p&s challenger boat rv airplane compound(rocks in a bottle), dewalt @ 3500, polishing wool, soft buff red foam, p&s challenger polish, Meg's UC with orange CCS 7' pad. Gray 3m foam and p&s challenger wax. I rarely work on gel so I called my p&s guy this morning and he showed up with those things. The UC knocked out remaining spiders shout out to MrClean for the tip! This is a ton of work and would love to cut steps in half. Thank you
 
Jsmooth said:
What products are using? I'm using p&s challenger boat rv airplane compound(rocks in a bottle), dewalt @ 3500, polishing wool, soft buff red foam, p&s challenger polish, Meg's UC with orange CCS 7' pad. Gray 3m foam and p&s challenger wax. I rarely work on gel so I called my p&s guy this morning and he showed up with those things. The UC knocked out remaining spiders shout out to MrClean for the tip! This is a ton of work and would love to cut steps in half. Thank you
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Ive been using 3M's Imperial Compound and Finishing Material (06044 or 06055) . I really like it gives the boat a great shine and really bites into the oxidation. If its mild oxidation I prefer 3m Finesse it ii, another good product and if i 2 step the correction ill follow the finesse it after the imperial.

When it comes to pads if its not really bad im a big fan of 3m's waffle pads the white ones 5723, a lot less sling and a little easier to work with if its bad ill throw on the 3m wool pad. I never really compound on 3500 usually have my Makita set to 2100 unless its heavily oxidized. When applying wax I use my griots garage 6inch with any pad because they get eaten up pretty quickly on boats a lot of product gets used to was a boat compared to a car.
 
L&I Detailing said:
Ive been using 3M's Imperial Compound and Finishing Material (06044 or 06055) . I really like it gives the boat a great shine and really bites into the oxidation. If its mild oxidation I prefer 3m Finesse it ii, another good product and if i 2 step the correction ill follow the finesse it after the imperial.

When it comes to pads if its not really bad im a big fan of 3m's waffle pads the white ones 5723, a lot less sling and a little easier to work with if its bad ill throw on the 3m wool pad. I never really compound on 3500 usually have my Makita set to 2100 unless its heavily oxidized. When applying wax I use my griots garage 6inch with any pad because they get eaten up pretty quickly on boats a lot of product gets used to was a boat compared to a car.
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listen to austin. good advice there. he's more experienced than myself but I also like the 3m white waffle foam on boats for polishing and I do the same with the griots DA and your LSP.
 
L&I Detailing;435686]Ive been using 3M's Imperial Compound and Finishing Material (06044 or 06055) . I really like it gives the boat a great shine and really bites into the oxidation. If its mild oxidation I prefer 3m Finesse it ii, another good product and if i 2 step the correction ill follow the finesse it after the imperial.
Click to expand...

I've been using the Imperial Compound with great results the last few seasons. Then applying Collinite Fleetwax 885 on top. It looks great for the first month but then deteriorates quickly. Any suggestions for a good "sealer" or wax that will hold up longer to the elements?
 
Seal it with ultima pain't guard plus......I've been getting good 3 month results but surface has got to be damn perfect gloss so don't be afraid to use wool as per my post above.
 
Ive never been a fan of collinite products. Right now my favorite wax is Meguiars Premium Flagship Wax, its an acrylic seal, easy to apply with a DA and get long lasting results around 3 months before you see it needing to be redone. I also have used the Ultima as glen suggested on a bunch of hulls including mine and it has lasted pretty long and its easy to apply. Either of these is a good option.
 
Nobody mentioned this so I will, I maintain a couple ski boats for some friends and for extra cash at Christmas. I talked to the shop guy at the boat dealer and he turned me onto Shurhold Buff Magic and wool pads. I can do a 1 step with my DeWalt (1000-1200 rpm) and finish out fine. Then a coat of Four Seasons Trewax Boat Wax. Note, you will need to spur the pad alot and plan on swapping them out pretty regular too if the gel coat has oxidized.
 
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