Getting the shine back

BigDaddy

BigDaddy

Member
Long time reader, first time poster. Is there a way to get the shine back in my gelcoat? The hull and cabin are in great shape-nice and shiny and look great waxed. On the other hand, the deck and bow are dull and no matter what, will not take a shine. Ive tried a few MacGuires products and nothing seems to bring the shine out. Any ideas, or should i start looking around for a paint job? I just bought the boat and love it, this is one of the first pics after i got it home. I have gotten the teak stain off the deck and gunnards, but dont want to go crazy scrubbing and deteriorate any chances of having the shine come back. You guys seem like the right bunch for great, reliable, free advice.
 

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Lumber !!!!

Shy away from painting till the last resort.
The next to last resort is coarse buffing compound and wax with a buffer.
Most likely you can reasonably restore the gelcoat gloss with a number things that may appear costly and time consuming but are well worth it.
One of these guys will chime in soon.
And WELCOME TO THE SITE!!
Oh and POST PICTURES!!
 
If you want to go with a good compound and wax you can't beat the Woody's Wax gelcoat restoring compound and follow up with their wax. A lot cheaper than the veriglass or newglass but a lot more work. I have had great results with both products on my last boat and my V. If you do go this way I would highly suggest a decent buffer, I picked one up from northern tool for like forty bucks and it made the job much easier.

-Svence
 
I am not concerned with the amount of work, after all the finish product is a direct reflection on me. Funny thing though, when i bought the boat the guy told me that BOAT stands for "break out another thousand". Im beginning to see that that wasnt a joke. Thanks for the tips.

:beer:
 
By his pics i would say it works great. The problem for me is its over $30 a quart, and seems to take alot of product to get the results he got. Not to mention they push the "pre-treater" at $30 a quart too. Woody wax seems to be a good product as well.
http://www.woody-wax.com/
I guess everything is more expensive when it has anything to do with a "marine" application. Its going to take me a little while to get used to that.
 
3m makes a great polish that removes the white chalky oxidation, and leaves a nice shine too.
Not to expensive either.
Happy 4th all.
 
If you don't mind waiting put off the project till the winter as you can grab the woody's wax restorer and cleaner for pretty cheap at the Miami Boat show (prob the Ft Lauderdale one too) especially on the last day of the show. And you get a lot out of one bottle, I compouned the outside of my old 19' sea pro twice and later did the interior and still have some left in the bottle.

-Svence
 
Thanks for that Svence, Ive heard that the last day of the boat show is great for picking up deals so Ill try it. Everyone keeps saying that theres a "winter" down here (Jan-Feb) but I think i can deffinetly run her when the air temp is still in the 70's (lol).
I will keep my eyes posted for the boat shows and thanks again for the tips.
 
This stuff works great but you must be careful.
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BigDaddy said:
Everyone keeps saying that theres a "winter" down here (Jan-Feb) but I think i can deffinetly run her when the air temp is still in the 70's (lol).
Click to expand...

I used to think the same thing but you learn that the winter is "cold" and the wind really kicks up for weeks on end so unless you are cruising the ICW its gets pretty rough.

-Svence
 
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