fun2themax wrote Feb 16, 2010 - 11:06 PM

Andrew,

The boat looked good to this novice so I brought it home.

From a cosmetic stand point, do you have a recommendation on a product that will clean, whiten, and shine the hulls? I appreciate your input and if you don't mind I'm sure I'll have more questions once I start trying to figure out the set-up. Thanks for your help.

there are some questions to be answered before the best plan of attack can be develooped...

how old is the gelcoat - *the age is the last numbers on the serial number. found on 1 of the transoms.

hows the condition of the gelcoat?
how much time / energy / money do you want to spend on the clean up?

ok.. so if the gelcoat is not shot.. you can do many things to get a nice shine.

since i am very lazy, and no matter what i do, since i sail so much (with powerboats in the area) i always get dark, scummy stains on my hulls every few months.. so i use some acid to clean that off... then i seal my hulls with some UV protection (303).

I have also done the 3 part sanding (with buffer) and then buff out the hulls with some liquid glass. this gave an amazing shine, and prevented the build up of new black crud on my hulls much better than the acid/303... but this is a 30-40 hour job (no thanks, i would rather go sailing)

there is a product called vertglass (i think). google it. people say it has good/great results for little work...

there are other products out there as well...

When looking at the gelcoat does it appear to be pitted? If yes then you need to sand and recoat(Gel or paint). If no you could buff and wax. My favorite and very easy way is to get a big can of commet, a good brush and just scrub it till it comes clean. Then I apply Newglass http://www.newglass2.com(very similar to vertglasshttp://www.vertglas.com). Buy the applicator it makes it easy. Just wipe on 4-5 coats. Takes about 5 min a coat. No buffing and the boat will look like new when you are done. The nice thing about this stuff is that the hull will not stain (when you sail in not so clean water) since it seals the gelcoat.
I usually go this at the beginning of each year since my boat(mystere 6.0) sits on the beach all summer.

When I brought home my '79 H16, the hulls were solid but oxidized almost white. Using 800 grit waterpaper and an electric sander I removed the oxidization which is an outer layer. The original gelcoat color, babyblue popped, just like new. I personally don't believe in waxing hulls, that is so old school, I used a clearcoat finish by Poliglow and the results were awesome, no more muddy lake stains on my hulls. you can check it out at:-http://www.poliglow-int.com/

--
TurboHobo
H14T
H16
P18
G-Cat 5.0
P16
--

I have used the poliglow on monohulls and had some good results too. The boat was from the early 70's and after using a good stripper to get the old off it made for a nice shiny surface coat. I'm probably going to do the same thing to my 37' RV...taking any offers to help with that one!

On a side note, I have done the whole strip and wax bit, and though the boat looked great, the results didnt last. For the effort and time I put into it, I was disappointed.



edited by: turtlecat, Feb 18, 2010 - 02:43 PM

The boat is a 91. I washed it with a bleach & water solution and this helped quite a bit. The gel coat is smooth, not rough or pitted, but it is not very shiny when dry. It also has some slight discoloration, sort of very light grayish splotches in a organge peel pattern. This is more prevalent on the outside of the hulls (the hulls on the inside, especially under the tramp look much better and are still shiney) so I think this must be from the sun/oxidation. I will test a couple differnet cleaners that you guys have mentioned and see if it takes this out. If this sounds familiar and you know what works on it pass it along. In regard to effort, I'd probably prefer not to put a whole lot of work into the cosmetics until I determine whether this boat and I are going to have a long term relationship. Does the 303 make it shine?

--
Steve - Texas Gulf Coast

91 Mystere 5.0 (sold)
04 Nacra 570 (sold)
08 Hobie Wave
00 Taipan 4.9
--

I stripped the wax and scum off my hulls with Mary Kay On and Off Hull Cleaner, because I have it from a serious algae encrusted bottom job on an earlier boat. It is a serious stripper, toxic as hell.
Then I wet wet-sanded, used rubbing compound and polish.
After that I sprayed on some liquid carnuba wax from Turtle Wax or some regular car company, I don't know. I reapply the spray on wax a couple times a season (spray on/wipe off/takes a few minutes). A non-spray on wax would probably last longer, but it would be harder work.
It looks great. People are surprised when I tell them it is an '82.