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2002 Sunscape - Oxidation?


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I've been doing homework on used boats in the '02 - '04 range. A while back I came across some pictures, which I can't find anymore, which showed a Sunscape hull that looked dull to me. More recently, it looks all shined up and new. I'm not sure if this would have been just a coat of wax, or something more.

Would you expect a hull from '02 to have serious oxidation to the point where it would need a wet-sand? (I'm not well versed in gel coat repair terminology.) If it did, is this now something that would have to be done every year? I'd have this boat under a covered lift in the summer and inside storage in the winter, therefore it wouldn't see much sun from now on.

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There are ways to make an oxidized hull look very shiny while selling it. Pledge furniture polish is the easiest and most popular trick. And yes - once gelcoat is oxidized, in my experience, it will tend to haze up much easier than if it was never let to go to he77 in the first place.

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Agreed. You can make an oxidized boat look shiny pretty easily - especially in pictures. But I found soon after you get it in the water the oxidation reveals itself rather quickly. It doesn't always need wetsanding. A heavy compound with a circular polisher can take that out to a certain extent. If it's real bad, then wetsanding would be in your future. And no, you wouldn't have to do it every year, even if you never waxed it. Gel coat is awesome.

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Hey guys you really should try poli glow for older oxidized boats. I just recently sold my 2000 Sunsetter that was heavily oxidized. I've tried all the tricks except for wet sanding. I saw an ad for poli glow and thought i'm so gullable and always spend $100's on boat waxes and polishers. So anyways it's awesome. It lasts all summer and is a piece of cake to apply. Once applied it makes your old gelcoat look brand new. Here's the website. Give it a try. http://www.poliglow-int.com/

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my boat sat on a covered lift and garaged during the winter, but the back end was exposed to the late afternoon sun that creeped in from the rear.

After 6 or 8 years it looked pretty bad, even with good regular waxing.

I lightly wet-sanded and used my polisher with a polishing glaze and a foam pad and finished with a good wax of course. It looks fantastic!

Years ago on an old (red) 1994 boat I had I tried poly glow because I heard good things about it. Ended up being mostly a "quick fix"...looked pretty good, but not for too long... ended up doing what I mentioned above and it looked great for years. In fact I've restored several red boats like that and have had great long-lasting results. I helped a buddy with a mid 90's red barefoot 190 that was so oxidized on the outside it looked like a faded pink. Almost 10 years later the thing looks like a million bucks. As good as new.

As long as it was done properly I wouldn't be worried about it one bit.

Before (note the oxidation above the platform):

09-03-07%20Slalom%20Course%20%28Rebel%29%20214.JPG

After:

IMG_1246.jpg

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BTW... are you in the market for 2002 Sunscape? I just happen to have one for sale, with the oxidation restored properly too :rockon:

2002, ILLUSION tower, rockin wetsounds sound system, perfect pass SG, awesome shape, 280hrs etc.

I just remembered I never responded to the PM you sent me a few days ago - I'll get back to you on that too!

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Thanks guys. It sounds like oxidation on a 7 year old boat is definitely not out of the question. So I shouldn't write it off as an indicator of poor maintenance on the rest of the boat, eh?

Edited by Badger
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Thanks guys. It sounds like oxidation on a 7 year old boat is definitely not out of the question. So I shouldn't write it off as an indicator of poor maintenance on the rest of the boat, eh?

Oxidation doesn't really take long to set in. My cover doesn't cover the transom all the way down to the rubrail. I apply a coat of wax when I winterize but after sitting for 3 months I have a little oxidation on the top side of the rubrail. Easily comes off some polishing compound.

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Thanks guys. It sounds like oxidation on a 7 year old boat is definitely not out of the question. So I shouldn't write it off as an indicator of poor maintenance on the rest of the boat, eh?

Definitely not an indicator. I wetsanded mine last year, and kept it on a covered boat lift during the summer, and tried to maintain it meticulously. But like chadwick, the back end still got sun on it later in the day. It started to show a little oxidation by the end of the year, but a quick polish job took care of it.

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What kind of polish is everyone using? I'm looking at taking off some minor oxidation and bringing back more shine to my Bu.

I only tackle minor polishing jobs and I use Turtle Wax Polishing Compound.

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What kind of polish is everyone using? I'm looking at taking off some minor oxidation and bringing back more shine to my Bu.

There's a milion different kinds it seems. So I buy whatever's on sale. I've used a 3M polish and a Turtle Wax polish, couldn't tell the difference between either.

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There's a milion different kinds it seems. So I buy whatever's on sale. I've used a 3M polish and a Turtle Wax polish, couldn't tell the difference between either.

And what kind of tool is needed? By hand? I don't have a buffer/polisher.

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And what kind of tool is needed? By hand? I don't have a buffer/polisher.

I use a high speed polisher (can go up to 6k RPM) on the flatter surfaces (sides of hull, transom). It looks like a big grinder, but it's a polisher, so it's set up for different pads. Mine cost $70 from Amazon, just start searching around the web and you'll see what I mean. On the curved surfaces it's all by hand (like just above my rub rail). I'm sure you can do it all by hand, but the small price of a cheap polisher, that may get 50 hrs of use from you in it's life, is well worth it.

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