light haze question?

[bigroundrocks]

I've used 3m super duty/ wool pad followed by 3m finesse/foam on bow of my Stratos (metal flake). The bow to start with was oxidized and spotty like it was hand rubbed and the oxidation wasn't evenly removed. Now its 10 fold clearer and shiner then its been since the day I bought it but has a little bit of a haze to it. Not sure I'd call it cloudy but has a slight haze or dullness to it which you see when you stand back and look at it. Still, it really shines, even reflects my shops lights off it. When you get down close to eye level you don't see haze and it feels smooth as glass but does look a little porous, doesn't have visible swirl marks. I never felt flake protruding before I started but maybe its close? Is this normal, will it clear up when I wax or should I have wet sanded first? After the Finesse I'm going to just wax it or is there a step I should take in between to resolve this? I read a thread about hazing finish with "said" wax on porous hauls. I've also read a lot about waxes on here I think I'm going to try a carnuba paste? opinions please! I don't want to start the topic of which wax is best, but does anyone have advice about wax for my situation? If you can't tell I'm the guy that never did this before.

[JohnR]

I put glaze then Meguiar's Marine Wax as the last two steps when I wet sanded mine last year. If it's hazy you may have to go back and wet sand some.

[bigroundrocks]

I'm worried about sanding with it looking porous that the flake maybe starting to come through. Supposes maybe I'll hit it with 1000 and see. I wouldn't think it could make it look worse. I have some Meguiar's #7 glaze would that be fine to use?

[JohnR]

I think that's the glaze I used.

[stevo18]

I'm in the same situation has u my boat has a little oxidation on it and someone posted on my thread wet sand gel coat and they gave me a link that had some realy good info http://checkmate-boats.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21226
has for wax I went with collinite 885 fleetwax since

[bigroundrocks]

I did read your thread and the link, very good information. I guess what confuses me is that now the entire bow has a slight even haze its not spotty like it was to begin with. I'm use some 1000 grit tomorrow night and see what happens. I haven't bought wax yet. How do you like the results of the Collinite #885?

[stevo18]

does a great job It realy shoes when you choose a wax that has almost no silicone added to it in this case collinite only has 2% silicone in it and realy works good for me up until now I'm not done completely I had to stop because of the crappy weather we have in canada ( snow again lol). the buffer that u use makes a big difference I had my dad's old rotary buffer and it only had 2 speeds slow and fast, it would either do nothing or burn everything lol. so I decided to pay myself a treat and bought a dewalt speed adjustable rotary buffer and man what a difference it made!!! with good 3M wool pads and foam pads to finish it realy did a nice job
when I finish I will try to post pictures

[bigroundrocks]

Thank you for your insight I'll probably give the colinite a go. As for the buff I have a Makita.

[stevo18]

that was my second choice if I would have not found a dewalt!!!!
give some info if everything you tried worked
thanks

[JohnR]

Glad my thread on the Checkmate forums helped you guys. :)

[stevo18]

yes It realy did thanks again for the link I will keep you guy's posted with progress on my boat

[pyro]

DO NOT use 1000 grit unless 1500 grit isn't coarse enough.

DO NOT even use 1500 grit unless 2000 grit isn't coarse enough.

Don't jump right to the 1000, unless you plan to go over the entire thing again with 1500, and AGAIN with 2000... Because the liquid polishinig is NOT going to do a good job of buffing out 1000 grit swirl.

3M Super Duty polish has a very inconsistent grit, and the wool pad only makes it worse. Lots of circular swirls of all different depths to buff out with additional stages.

For starters... Do a small area with 2000 wet, then buff it out with swirl remover, and again with Machine glaze or Finesse on a clean foam pad. See how it looks and work from there...

[bigroundrocks]

Glad my thread on the Checkmate forums helped you guys. :)

John - Great thread you created, thank you. I read so many different variation on how to do the same thing. I printed off your info and have gone that route with near flawless results. I only say near flawless cause I've never done this before.

[bigroundrocks]

Pyro, I beg to differ a little. Simply based on the results I have gotten cause I don't have any other experience. I was able to use 3m rubbing compound to buff out 1000g with not a lot of effort. Just above my rub rail on the side of boat was oxidized pretty bad you could feel the flake to. I started there with 800 then 1000 went right to the 3m compound only having to re-sand one little area. I was completely beside myself with amazement how well it worked. Not that it matters but for emphasis my shop is finished white steel and very, very well light. I must have got lucky because at eye level I don't see swirls or scratches, just a whole lot of awesome! But your opinions matter to me more then my own experience, with that said I'll take your advice on the bow and go finer grit hell I'll even do the rest of the boat. With what you say it will probably just look even better. Thank you for your advice is much appreciated! I couldn't do this with out you guys.

[racerx]

The trick is to keep your pads clean,you probally are using double sided wool pads,use the 3m perfect 2 rubbing compound it is the best and removes 90 percent of the swirls as you go,dont be cheap on pads if you want the best,as far as still seeing a haze lots of times its the fiberglass itself and will stay,sounds like your doing a great job.buff it wash it and do again...

[JohnR]

Different compound grades are made for removing the scratches left by different grit papers and at the end the glaze added a lot of depth to the gel on mine. That thread was kind of like a "gel coat restoration for dummies" since I had never done it before and got a bunch of help from the guys over there.

[bigroundrocks]

Just an update, boat is complete and looks amazing. Pyro, I took your advice I'm glad I did. My previous post I don't know what I was thinking. I guess after rereading yours a couple times and letting it sink in it makes since. I did the bow like you explained and I'm way happier with how much less work it was. boat looks amazing. I used 3m super duty, 3m finesse, Meguiar's #7 glaze, and collinite #885. I have to say I don't like the collinite simply because of the effort involved. The results though were amazing. But it never really seemed to dry or haze. I just rubbed for ever it seemed, then wiped off. Thank you all for your insight. This being my first, I didn't think I could make the boat look this good.

[stevo18]

I did the same steps has you for my STV and man what a difference it made. the only thing I had troubles with was the wax it seemed to stick to the boat. I had to wash it off a few times after and it took care of the problem.

[captadhos]

After the 3M compound, finish with their FinesseIt product, it's great.

[stevo18]

yup but with the finessIt make shure to turn the recomended speed. I went slower and it did not turn out the way I wanted it did not have that deep shine that everyone was saying I had to redue the entire boat and then it turned out nice.
I used a foam pad to do it.