Surface Oxidation and Restoration ?????

[ndmate]

What is the best method to fixing oxidation and or damage to the surface of the Checkmate Gelcoat? I have a black starflight that needs a little tlc to make it perfect again. i have thought about shooting clears over it but have opted to buff and polish it until it is acceptable. is there anything i can do to make it perfect again? I also have been thinking of shooting a clear with some flake in it as well? What are your thoughts and or experiences?

[ndmate]

What is the best method to fixing oxidation and or damage to the surface of the Checkmate Gelcoat? I have a black starflight that needs a little tlc to make it perfect again. i have thought about shooting clears over it but have opted to buff and polish it until it is acceptable. is there anything i can do to make it perfect again? I also have been thinking of shooting a clear with some flake in it as well? What are your thoughts and or experiences?

[Dave]

I have clear on my deck and think it's the best. It was shot about ten years ago and still looks good. I'm sure there are better products out there now. I'm not sure what type I have as it was shot before I bought it. Take the time to strip the hardware and you will not be disappointed.

A friend did his recently with some Dupont stuff. It look great and is a very hard surface. Looks much better then mine.

`84 Enchenter Evinrude 200 XP

[JW]

He buffed it all out to get rid of the deep scratchs and then cleared the boat, it looked good and was easy to take care of. From what I've seen, just buffing and waxing a boat wont do the trick like a good clear coat will. Maybe Bill has a better way, he's the pro at it.

1995 2100BR/1995 225 Promax/23" Tempest

[Bill]

Thanks JW!
This is a double edged question. Dark will always fade if not kept up. If a boat is maintained properly, it is very easy and quick to polish. As far as this particular boat we are talking about here, it is hard to give a specific answer without seeing pics to tell you where to go with it. First we will start with sanding, buffing,and polishing. If you have never done it, hire someone. Do not attempt to "buff" by hand, the results will be horrible! The biggest mistakes people make with high speed buffers is they use wrong compounds and too high rpm's. Low RPM's is the key to a mirror finish. Go step by step, many of them, especially if there is sanding. I normally start with 600 grit to 800, 1000, 1200, 1500, compound, leveling compound, then anywhere from 2-5 coats of polish. If you know what you are doing but do not have the tools, you will drop 500.00 to 600.00 dollars in equipment to do it right, then once it is done and kept up, most of that equipment will not be used again. It is cheaper to have someone do it than maintain it yourself. Clear coating can make or break the boat. If it is done half a*s, you will see EVERY imperfection and it will more than likely flake off in a year or so. You really do not want to use automotive clears, should use a clear resin, it is much more durable and will adhere to current gel much better. And remember, once cleared, you still need to keep it polished. For Just about anywhere in the U.S., you should polish the deck once a month and hull once a year. Clear ultimately will give you a better shine because shine is produced by reflectivity and clear will give more reflectivity. This is why dark colors show more scratches, because of the refraction of light off of an irregular surface, hence remove the scratches, better shine. To have it cleared propery, Very, VERY expensive.

[BayviewRick]

If you wanted a less expensive fix, try the Vertglas system, do a search for vertglas, and read up on it. It's about $70 bucks take or give but in order for it to work, which it does, we've used it, you need to use the complete kit. It's lots of wax on/wax off time, but it'll bring the shine back, gets into the pores, etc. The long term fix is to sand/clear but if you didn't want to spend the $$$, didn't plan on keeping the boat, etc.. Vertglas may be what your looking for. Rick

www.Bayviewmarinecenter.com (http://www.Bayviewmarinecenter.com)

[ndmate]

Rick and Bill, When I purchased the boat i did have it sanded and polished. Most of the finish came back but it tends to fade every year even if i keep polishing it. I have a friend that paints hot rods and was thinking of stripping the boat down and shooting it with clear in his autobody shop. What types of resin are most commonly used and can a person incorporate flake into that?

ps, the pics of the boat are listed under the 92 starflight for sale in the buy and sell forums. or email me i can send you some up close pics

abjerke@crystalsugar.com

tks

[ndmate]

I have heard some very poor testimonials about that product on the s&f board. My boat is not oxidized that bad, it is a polishable smooth finish but needs to be perfect to keep its owner happy.

[Bill]

I like epoxy resins and you can add flake to it, but remember, flake adds about 2-3 times the work because you really need to build up the clear so you can not feel the flake. Now, this is just my preferance, but when I shoot flake, the first coat I spray has the flake, then, I add 20 to 25 coats of clear, depending on how much flake. I end up wet sanding about half of the clear out to make sure there is no orange peel in the finish. I once did a 30 foot boat, and spent 13 hours just spraying and 3 more dayssanding and polishing, that does not include the week of prep time. I am going to clear my trailer when I get it this spring with some house of kolor fine flake and if I feel confident, I might mix in a little pearl. I have never done flake and pearl together, and I do not know if I want to experiment with a new trailer!

[Bill]

i forgot, places around me drop the ball often because they do not understand gelcoat. They think sanding and polishing a boat is the same as a vette. Hey it is all fiberglass right, wrong. There final polish is romoving the scratches polish and not protect polish of that makes sense. 3M's finese it is a polish that removes scratches but does not protect. The Race Glaze polish that I use also protects or if a car polish was used, the color will not stay. Basically, try to do some research into who restores the finish on boats, most detail shops do not have marine products. When I was a sevice manager at a marine dealership, the owner told me to have the detail dept. NOT protect the finsh after useing finese it because by the end of the summer, the boat would need to be done again, ( kept the detail dept. going all of the time) Bosses orders!

[ndmate]

Bill,

You are right, i will probably just clear it. How thick and what are your preferences for clear??

[Bill]

ndmate,
did you get the e-mail I sent to you?

[ndmate]

Bill,

I didnt receive your email, maybe i didnt recognize it and tossed it on accident. Please try again. abjerke@crystalsugar.com

[Bill]

I just re-sent it over http://www.checkmate-boats.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif

[happyhour4pm]

Hey Guys
I was wondering if you had any "special" tips for preserving a gelcoat that is still in good shape. We really want to keep up with our 11 year old boat.....I was told something by the dealer in mansfield where I bought my boat that he used Behold furniture polish??!!? What do you think. I was assuming that a good quailty wax designed for gelcoats was probably the best ticket.

[Bill]

Any dealer that tells you that should have his dealership taken away or let him sell bayliners or salebotes!!!!!!!! I use Race Glaze for personal and for my business. When wondering around the forum, look at the pics of the diplomat I just traded and you will see for yourself. The gel is all origonal and the boat is an 1985. Not bad for 18 yrs old!

[ndmate]

Bill, Still not getting your email. What is your address, maybe i am throwing it with all the junk mail i get? Either that or put checkmate in the subject line.,

thanks

[Bill]

Epoxy is brittle if mixed too hot, done properly and will never have a propblem. Epoxy is all I used on 220mph boats and nothing EVER cracked unless we broke the boat! To say that clearing the boat is the best cheap alternative, in my eyes, is not all that correct. To me, there is only one way to do a job, and that is to do it right, and to clear a boat right, you must disassemble it. That means take all hardware off, including windshiels, rubrail, cleats, ect. Then once you do that, sand the whole boat, fix scratches, dings , ect, if you don't the clear will accentuate them, then degrease the hull and deck, then tack it 8-10 times and when you think all the dust is off, tack it again, Spray it with about 20 mist coats, then wet sand and polish about 10 of those coats off. Not cheap. It can be done other ways, but why bother, it will look like S**t.

[Bill]

ND, my e-mail is fischerbill@msn.com

[JW]

OK fellas, I cleaned it up to here. Good? http://www.checkmate-boats.com/6/ws/,s,8626072361/Graemlins/sssh.gif

1995 2100BR/1995 225 Promax/23" Tempest

[Bill]

JW, http://www.checkmate-boats.com/6/ws/,s,8626072361/Graemlins/thumb.gif
Bill

[SMLaker]

http://www.checkmate-boats.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_cool.gif I am trying to get the oxidation of my
85 . I tried several ways to no good results.
On the worst parts I tried using a very simple
product called SOS pads. It seems to work,but
one caution to be aware of, IT CAN SCRATCH!!!!
Then I go over the gel coat with 1000 grit
wet/dry paper. It works for me, but be very
careful---IT CAN SCRATCH!!!!. After the wet/dry I use Dupont Finesse It with a buffer to apply and remove It works for me but be careful

CARL DANIELSON

[Mark]

Just about any gelcoat can be brought back from the dead with a little TLC. Most boats do not need the expense of clear. My 85 Diplomat was chalky white when I got it and now it looks like it just came out of the factory. Check it out under members rides in Picture This. I used rubbing and leveling compounds with a $90 low speed buffer, followed by Race Glaze polish. I didn't do any sanding(was afraid to). I got some great advice from Bill. He's the resident expert.

[Hoser]

Had some oxidation on my 86 Starflight. Called checkmate and spoke to Mike. He mentioned that because my boat was metalflake there are several coats of clearcoat gel on it and it should come back nicely. Mike suggested hand wet sanding with a blueblock(flat rubber sandpaper holder) and 1200 grit and then polishing with a new product called Flitz metal polish and fiberglass cleaner. The boat now looks great!! Checkmate is a terrific company and they are always willing to provide the user with correct information - what a company!!
Hoser