How to remove white residue off red gelcoat

[Aaronhl]

How should I restore this gelcoat? The red gel coat is pretty dull in most places and has a white residue...What I was thinking are the following steps

Steps
first: 3M Compound high gloss cut
second: 3M Finesse
third: teflon wax (any recommendations?)

Using a Variable Speed Polisher from Harbor Frieght
http://www.harborfreight.com/power-tools/polishers/7-in-10-amp-variable-speed-polisher-60626.html

Is this a good plan? I would also need to know what type of PAD and RPM to use on each step?? Anything else I should know?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/Aaronhl/3B2A6DAB-8F17-42BE-A1A8-CC4697387096-6019-00000AE840BD9A42.jpg

[Aaronhl]

Here is my list after researching a little bit. I want to remove the chalk and bring out the shiny wet look, the whole top of the boat is pretty dull.

7 in. 10 Amp Variable Speed Polisher Drill Master - item#60626 from Harbor Freight

3M 05718 Perfect-It Back-Up Pad

3M 05719 Perfect-It Wool Compounding Pad for 3M COMPOUND for HIGH GLOSS GELCOAT 3M 06025

3M 05713 9" Wool Polishing Pad for 3M 06039 Finesse-it White Marine Paste Compound and 3M Marine Ultra Performance Paste Wax

Am I missing anything??

[Aaronhl]

Anyone??????

[FMP]

I have seen it done to a lot worse than that, and it took the guy a few days with lots of cutting. When he started you wouldn't think it was possible to bring it back up . Lots of polish with lesser grain to final gloss. Never rushing , just steady hours.

[albypine]

Hard to tell you what to start cutting it with by just looking at pictures , last one I did had a lot of thickness left in the gel so I started with 400 for a few passes then went to 600 then 1000 befor I put the compound to it

[Aaronhl]

I can post more pictures when it's warmer with the cover off. But the white residue isn't that thick, just noticeable. I really want to bring out the shine since the whole top of the boat is DULL red.

Here are some pictures from last year when I picked up the boat. You can see the white residue but like it said it's pretty dull, You can see the bottom black is more shiny than the top black area. I know you can't tell that well by the pictures but do you guys think I should sand first? I would really hate to sand and just go straight to the compound.

And you can see in the second pictures some area is wet and looks pretty good.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/Aaronhl/DSCN0887_sm.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/Aaronhl/Virage_1.jpeg

[1nebel0]

Read my post about polishing out a black lavey...looked worse than yours...came out like glass....Mcquire 105 with rotary.. Finesse with orbital....wax...Could have used 3m super duty compound....wet sanding is too much work if you can use the right compounds....just my 02

[Aaronhl]

Should I use the Meguiars 105 or 85? Can you recommend a wool pad. I am not sure what would fit on the rotarys

[tony97gt]

Be careful with a rotary, you can burn the gel. Rotary really should only be used with someone who has experience with them in my opinion. I had an 18' Talon (white) that was cleaned by the previous owner with soft scrub. You can imagine how chalky and dull the gel was. I brought it back to a very high gloss and smooth shine using a DA (dual action) polisher and 3M Heavy Duty Compound. I never even got to the medium and fine cut polishes because I was happy enough with the HD. But I would imagine on Red you would need to complete the polishing to avoid the swirls. Like stated above, patience is key because gel is much harder than auto paint and needs lots of heat to see a change. Stay away from an orbital buffer because you will never accomplish much other than wasting your time. Get yourself a good DA and some 3M HD Compound and try it out in a small area. It took me almost 13hrs just for an 18' boat and that wasn't even getting into the medium and fine cuts. Good luck!

[tony97gt]

http://www.amazon.com/3M-05954-Super-Duty-Compound/dp/B000N9OE1E

[JohnR]

From when I did my red boat:

http://checkmate-boats.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23534

[Aaronhl]

Great link- don't really want to wet sand, but my red gelcoat does look exactly like that guy's

[tony97gt]

Great link- don't really want to wet sand, but my red gelcoat does look exactly like that guy's Try the least aggressive method first and see if you're happy with the results. If not, step it up to next most aggressive.:thumbsup:

[Aaronhl]

Good tip!!!

[JohnR]

At the end of the day it would have taken me much longer to try to buff through the oxidation with compound than it did to wet sand it away.

John

[Aaronhl]

OK guys here is an update on the boat
The top of the boat will come out great. I have used a Harbor Freight polisher and wool pad with a 3M compound. The dullness will be removed and the gloss is back. You can see the windshield and side was done near the registration tag.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/Aaronhl/AF6744DD-186C-4D6C-9A32-D36E8C366611-19792-0000194C9CA00D86.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/Aaronhl/D00B645A-8DC5-4AA1-B4E3-0916DC8CBC50-19792-0000194C9AC92898.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/Aaronhl/4153923E-D949-4E63-B7EF-D4856B084632-19792-0000194C95FB941A.jpg


The problem I am having is that the side of the boat has a thick haze over it. It's only the side not the bottom of the sponson. The fine grit sand paper did not cut through it, so I went down to 100 grit on a small area and it is finally cutting through, but not easily. The blotches of deep red are still barely showing. What do you think will help with this??

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/Aaronhl/4F61DD1E-9C1A-4F1E-921E-B1E7FB58DE07-19792-0000194C9E3A5F74.jpg

[Aaronhl]

I am wondering if I should start using the polisher with sandpaper as a sander, because the hand sanding is just not cutting it. I am too afraid to use 100 grit any more (which seems like the only grit that will eat through it) You can see in the middle of the picture above the bright red it showing through, like a cloudy sky