How do I bring gelcoat back to life?

[B.Mac]

Everything but deck is pristene on new/ used C'mate. The gel on the deck has lost it's gloss. I believe somebody sprayed clear on it before as some of it is peeling like sunburn.

I asssume I can wetsand the whole deck with..what?...800-1000 grit wet/ dry? Take off the surface oxidation and spray it with ...?

I assume again I can pinstripe it first then spray it with 3 or 4 coats of a good Urethane clearcoat? Do I want to add some kind of hardening additive?

Help? Need all & any input on grit, process, products etc.

Thanks guys........

B.MAC :D

[pyro]

You're going to have to get that lousy clearcoat off before you can make any improvements. I know nothing about how to do that... But, once it's all removed, you can wet sand it and put a DECENT clear coat on it.

[Rusrog]

I have a red Hydrostream that was getting close to being a pink Hydrostream. I bought a bunch of 600 and 1000 grit WET sandpaper and got after it. After about 2 sets of fingerprints, no telling how many sheets of sandpaper and gallons of water....my boat looks dripping wet all the time. The process was 600, 1000, light run over with polishing compund, 3M Finesse It, and then a bunch of pure carnuba wax. It now looks like it is wet all the time. The red came back out beautifully and I have no regrets. There was no clear on mine and I have not actually seen a clear coat on most boats unless they have actually been painted.

Good luck,

Russ Rogers

[Wet Willie]

I restored the gelcoat on my Glastron/Carlson this past Winter. It had faded to the point where you could barely tell there was metalflake under it and the color was teal instead of blue because the clear gelcoat had yellowed so badly. It was a mother of a job mainly because the previous owner was into soaking the deck with Armor-All. Biggest problem was getting that stuff off (and out) of the gelcoat.
I cleared it with Kemron clear and it looks like a new boat. Excellent and well worth the effort. Midwest Chemicals sells it direct. Very reasonable price and helpful staff. Easy stuff to work with and very durable.
Good luck.

[B.Mac]

When a hull comes out of the mold it's finished ...no? There's no clearcoating is there? Just cleanup? Sounds like I'll be sanding 'till Christmas but .......as long as it shines:D

So my question is? Clearcoat or no?

B.MAC:D

[pyro]

Sometimes, a good clearcoat will protect the finish and give a better shine than the factory gelcoat. The problem with yours, is the previous owner did a half-assed job of it. If you can take off the ****ty clearcoat, wet-sand the gel and clearcoat it the right way, it will look great.

[crazy horse]

Metalflake boats come out of the mold with the clear gelcoat already on them. Thats the first layer thats put in the mold when they build them.

[Georgia Boy]

Well I have seen solid color boats that people have wetsanded with ultra fine paper, 1000-1200 etc and they would buff out and polish fine, and look great but I tried it on one with a friend that was a metal flake finish and it did not turn out so great, I beilieve we could have wetsanded for years and would never have brought it back, If it was mine i would wetsand with a 600 grit and use a good quality clear being it is on the deck only and if it is done right you should have absolutely no problems with it. But it will take some time to get thru the old clear but you need to remove all of it first, if it is a heavy coat then you may want to go with a 400 grit to remove and then a 600 grit to polish before clearing.

[Rickracer]

I stripped my whole 16'8" Glastron with a box o single edged razor blades. :cool:

[B.Mac]

Using 600 gt. wet/ Perfect starting paper. Next I'll wear my other arm off with 1000 then rubbing compound & wax on that. This might just work:D
B.MAC:D

[Racemore]

if it has been clearcoated be cause it got dull and somebody didn't know how to bring it out then you may have enough clear resin(factory) to bring back.If that is the case then there won't be any discoloration in the flake.If there isn't you can reclear with urethane or the tougher,more durable way is spraying Finishing resin mixed with Duatec high gloss clear 50/50.Duratec will make it flow better with alot less orange peel to sand.I did a Checkmate that was faded to the flake,wash it real good with acetone to remove dirt and grime,lightly sanded the areas that still had a clear to sand with 400 and put to good coats on it.With Duatec you use slow laquer thinner which lets it lay down real well.I didn't have to sand and buff at all to satisfy the customer.He thought it looked new but it did have a little oragepeel.The best thing is it won;t peel up like urethane and is harder than the factory clear.He waxes and keeps it covered and it looks great when I saw it a year ago.I did it 6 years ago. :cool:

I always try to get the clear that is peeling off with a razor blade because sanding takes the factory clear or gelcoat down at the same time.My sterling was peeling real bad were they cleared it to sell it and didn't prep it worth a damn.I scraped, wetsanded and buffed it back to like new.it shines ,ask Parker:cool: