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Hull Recovery


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Here are some photos to show what the condition my gel coat is in. I am looking for some information in regards to wether or not it can be restored to a "new" finish or if it is in need of more in depth repair. It looks like a haze throughout the hull. Also any suggestions on polishing the tower and the wedge foil would be great.

Thanks,

Claudio

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Your brass and Nibrl running gear can be cleaned with a wire wheel on a drill. BeCarful and dont hit the get!\

The gel on the hull CAN be restroed you will need to clean it real well to get the scale off then start with an aggressive polish or compound to see if that will be enough. if not you may have to wet sand still not really a big deal and it will come back to new with a bit of work

Your foil is corroded not much you can do about that except replace.

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For the gel, try this in a small area to see if it will work and bring it back to an acceptable level: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0000AY65X/ref=redir_mdp_mobile

Use a drill with a pad to apply.

If this does not bring it back to the level you want, get a 6" and 10" sanding block or a good RO sander. Get 600, 800, 1000, 1200 wet sandpaper (if you don't use the aggressive compound listed above or another brand you may want to get 1500 grit too). Then get busy wet sanding, make sure to keep paper watered and clean with water/sponge then maybe acetone in between thre different grits of the sandpaper.

If you don't get aggressive compound, use the 1500 grit then use the 3m finesse it, then a good wax.

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Ditto the gel plan by jwl, and the runnning gear plan by REW. Did both of those to mine.

Didn't someone powder coat a wedge once? Mine looks rough too.

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If you have not wetsanded and buffed before TRUST me when I say Malibu black and red are not the colors to learn on. If it's that bad hire a pro.

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If you have not wetsanded and buffed before TRUST me when I say Malibu black and red are not the colors to learn on. If it's that bad hire a pro.

Curious why you feel this way? Essentially his gel has become oxidized and will need to remove enough of it that the oxidized layer gets removed. As long as he steps down on this compound appropriately and goes finer and finer, I don't see where he could go wrong? Why do you feel color is important?

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Curious why you feel this way? Essentially his gel has become oxidized and will need to remove enough of it that the oxidized layer gets removed. As long as he steps down on this compound appropriately and goes finer and finer, I don't see where he could go wrong? Why do you feel color is important?

Experience. Yeah sounds easy in theory, in practice its very difficult to remove sanding marks from Malibu black, and red isn't a whole lot better. I've wetsanded and buffed ALOT of boats (worked at a dealer for 5 summers) and Malibu black is always a PITA to get right.

Not saying its impossible (far from it) but its not the place for a rookie to learn how to wetsand and use a rotary buffer.

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Start so wimpy that it doesn't work and slowly step up to what improves it. That way you'll be even a little light on grit when you find what you need and it'll be easier to learn. I'd compound the whole boat before breaking out the sandpaper. For some of it that will definitely be enough, then you'll really know where you sit. I realize its double work, but in particular being new to it I'd start that way. It's surprising how much you can take off with an orbital which is both good and bad.

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All good info. I do have a company that specializes in this arena and is quoting me 230$ to do the whole boat to a shine. Worth it ? Mind you I don't have any experience wet sanding or properly waxing. The wax part I will be learning after the gel is restored but not sure about sanding it.

Thanks

Claudio

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All good info. I do have a company that specializes in this arena and is quoting me 230$ to do the whole boat to a shine. Worth it ? Mind you I don't have any experience wet sanding or properly waxing. The wax part I will be learning after the gel is restored but not sure about sanding it.

Thanks

Claudio

Definitely do it. My boat was worse, but took me like 40 hours of sanding and buffing time (and learning) to get it right. I would pay $230 in a heartbeat for a well done job.

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$230 is a screaming deal. If you don't have any of the materials needed you can easily spend most of that on supplies to do the job. Plus if you don't own a buffer, a good one costs more than that by itself.

I've also got 30 plus hours into my red boat and there are spots that I know will never be perfect.

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All good info. I do have a company that specializes in this arena and is quoting me 230$ to do the whole boat to a shine. Worth it ? Mind you I don't have any experience wet sanding or properly waxing. The wax part I will be learning after the gel is restored but not sure about sanding it.

Thanks

Claudio

My rotary buffer cost more than that, good deal for sure.

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Yeah I think I will go this route. Hopefully we have an "understanding" of expectations. I hate it when I ask for a service and a result and the response is "yes" we can do it and it comes out different or more time consuming so they didn't deliver.

I'll post after pics when its done !

Claudio

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  • 4 weeks later...

I'd love to see how this came out with some pics. I'm picking up a new to me Bu' in a few weeks and i'm thinking about a pro job vs. DIY job and think $230 sounds real good vs. 8hrs of blood, sweat and tears. Post em' if you can

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