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crusty ol' wedge plate


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My plain old black wedge plate is starting to look pretty grungy after a couple of years. I keep the rest of my boat looking nice but this thing is an eyesore to me. What have others done to theirs to improve the looks? I could paint it I guess but it seems like it would just look bad again in a year or two. I wish I had one of the new stainless ones but unless a cheap one makes an appearance that's probably not going to happen.

Just thought I would see what others are doing if anything about the old style black wedges.

Thanks!

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I think that SacRiverRat pulled his off & had it powder coated. If you go with a common color (like black) it's pretty economical since they can put it in with a batch of the same color. Very durable too.

Thanks! That's a good idea. Keep 'em coming folks. Can they be polished to look good? I am

assuming it is made of aluminum?? Dontknow.gif

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I had the plate and foil on our first boat powder coated black. The second boat I went with the SS option. Neighbor across the lake had has foil powder coated silver last year.

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There was talk about the powdercoat not holding up under use.. I haven't had any issues. Also had my swim step brackets powdercoated black while I was at it.

Looks great! - you could save some dough by sanding it down/blasting it first, so that it was all ready to go

post-80-1208473428_thumb.jpg

Edited by SacRiverRat
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Sunsetter on here did a great "polish" job on his not too long ago. There are pics somewhere on here. Check in the gallery, it looked really nice!

edit: Found it

<a href="http://www.themalibucrew.com/forums/index....er&user=144" target="_blank">http://www.themalibucrew.com/forums/index....er&user=144</a>

Wow ...that looks awesome! I will have to get the lowdown on that job! Thanks! Great find!

There is a thread somewhere explaining how he did it.

edit: Found it again. Must be my lucky day!

http://www.themalibucrew.com/forums/index....mp;#entry225571

Edited by SCOTTDOMINE
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Sunsetter on here did a great "polish" job on his not too long ago. There are pics somewhere on here. Check in the gallery, it looked really nice!

edit: Found it

<a href="http://www.themalibucrew.com/forums/index....er&user=144" target="_blank">http://www.themalibucrew.com/forums/index....er&user=144</a>

Wow ...that looks awesome! I will have to get the lowdown on that job! Thanks! Great find!

There is a thread somewhere explaining how he did it.

edit: Found it again. Must be my lucky day!

http://www.themalibucrew.com/forums/index....mp;#entry225571

Thanks Scott for the links! I don't know how I missed this the first time around.....Props to Sunsetter! Great job!

If you are reading, how is it holding up?

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I think that i am going to give this wedge polish job a try myself. I will post some pics as i go.

Edited by txwakejunkie
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I just sanded mine down and painted it silver. Looks like brand new and it didnt take very long. If it looks bad in a couple years I will just do it again. I will post some pics but I think I only had about 45 minutes into it total.

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I just sanded mine down and painted it silver. Looks like brand new and it didnt take very long. If it looks bad in a couple years I will just do it again. I will post some pics but I think I only had about 45 minutes into it total.

Yeah, would like to see the pics when you get time.

I wonder what it would cost to get something that size chrome plated? I have never had anything plated but would

be interested in what it would cost and if it would hold up to the abuse.

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Here's another one

Doug that thing looks awesome! I may have to try that on mine in the off season. I am sure it took

you a while to get that thing looking so good! I am thinking that I can probably only get the wedge itself

polished on mine though. My arms are that brass looking material and I have a v-drive, making the wedge

bracket removal a bit of a pain I am afraid?

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I'd be curious to know how well the polish job holds up. My experience (and I do have some) with polished aluminum or ceramic coated (silver metallic powder coating) in underwater applications it that it won't last long at all. As in first time it hits the water unless you are CONSTANTLY keeping it fresh by polishing it after every use. That's a burden I don't want. I did this on a jetski, not a boat, but end result would be the same. My only suggestion would be if you polish, you must apply a clear coat finish to protect it or you will have a maintenance nightmare. And the way the wedge arms rub the bracket when you raise/lower, I'm suspicious of a clear coat staying on. I would only recommend a black powdercoat like sacriverrat did. The polished looks awesome, but I've done too much polished alum in my life to say I'm done trying to keep up with that.

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here is a picture of mine all painted up. I think i am going to take the bracket and arms off and do the same thing.

I looked into chroming it but it seemed like it would be too expensive and the guy said he couldnt get it done for almost 6 weeks! :Doh:

post-3642-1208488728_thumb.jpg

post-3642-1208488884_thumb.jpg

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here is a picture of mine all painted up. I think i am going to take the bracket and arms off and do the same thing.

I looked into chroming it but it seemed like it would be too expensive and the guy said he couldn't get it done for almost 6 weeks! :Doh:

I have tried to paint mine. The water just tore it off in one or two days out. I too am looking into chroming it. Although since my V23 hull should have the V 23 Wedge on it, I may try to get may hand on one of those or make one myself and give it a try. If it works better, I may have that one chromed. Undecided. Yes, this one may dull fast but I, but I will keep it up for a while. The old look was almost a purple color and it sucked that is why I tried the polish job. I was told too look into a clear powder coat, or anodizing it....

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Yeah, I think the clear coat is the way to go. I'd be leary of chroming too in this application. All it takes is one little nick and that chrome will be gone in no time the way it's pulled through the water. My tower is polished aluminum with a "clear anodize" coating. I think that's the way to go if you want bling, short of just getting one in stainless.

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Yeah, I think the clear coat is the way to go. I'd be leary of chroming too in this application. All it takes is one little nick and that chrome will be gone in no time the way it's pulled through the water. My tower is polished aluminum with a "clear anodize" coating. I think that's the way to go if you want bling, short of just getting one in stainless.

I thought of that. We have a steel supplier that sells all kinds of cut-offs by the pound. I bought the SS for the locking pins for ~$20. I was nicely suprised how it shined up with just 1000 paper on it. I didn't even hit it with compound to buff it up. If I only had a small mill.... and a welder.... and a lathe.... and a tubing bender.... and a shop... and ...and

Well, you know what I mean. I love to tinker on stuff!

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If you want the black, I sanded mine down and used a good quality spray paint. Holds up fairly well. Has to be redone every season, but we are talking about 10 bucks and an hours worth of time.

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