Cloudy fiberglass

[sjk984]

This winter I am going to start a remod on an old 23 donzi fishing boat. My first plan is to clean up the hull, cockpit and deck. The blue hull has an extreamley cloudy look to it. I lightly buffed it and waxed it this spring. It helped out a little but it seams to be returning.

What is a good buffing agent to use. I have absolutly no experiance with fiberglass so any help wpuld be appreciated.

Thanks Steve

[killerbe20]

this is what i used to restore the gel coat on my florida baked tiara. worked outstanding! it is expensive but worth it. this has the finishing material already in it so that cuts out one step.

http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_11151_10001_21214_-1?cid=chanintel_google&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=21214

follow that up with a good coat or two of wax. i used Meguiars premium marine wax. again a little more expensive but great finish.

http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=14676&catalogId=10001&langId=-1&storeId=11151&storeNum=10104&subdeptNum=10384&classNum=10386

[N II Deep]

I had the same problem with the darker colors on my 87 Fourwinns, I tried a few different off the shelf products with limited results always after a few short weeks the haze would be back.

ended up having the whole boat repainted with Duponts Imron. it now has an automotive type finish and I only wax once a year, and wash / rinse it down every couple of weeks with a hose. very low maint. has held up very well as it was done over the 2004-2005 winter.

this also let me change the entire color plan from white bottom, black side, dark grey rail stripe and lt. grey top to a entire white boat with a simple dark grey stripe.

down side was the cost, it was very labor intensive, to hand sand out. just short of 5K to do the entire boat, but it still looks like new after 6 years.

still cheaper than a new boat.

[MY2SONS]

this is what i used to restore the gel coat on my florida baked tiara. worked outstanding! it is expensive but worth it. this has the finishing material already in it so that cuts out one step.

http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_11151_10001_21214_-1?cid=chanintel_google&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=21214

follow that up with a good coat or two of wax. i used Meguiars premium marine wax. again a little more expensive but great finish.

http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=14676&catalogId=10001&langId=-1&storeId=11151&storeNum=10104&subdeptNum=10384&classNum=10386

What did you use to apply it? Foam pad or wool? Power, or by hand?

[MY2SONS]

this is what i used to restore the gel coat on my florida baked tiara. worked outstanding! it is expensive but worth it. this has the finishing material already in it so that cuts out one step.

http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_11151_10001_21214_-1?cid=chanintel_google&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=21214

follow that up with a good coat or two of wax. i used Meguiars premium marine wax. again a little more expensive but great finish.

http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=14676&catalogId=10001&langId=-1&storeId=11151&storeNum=10104&subdeptNum=10384&classNum=10386

I recently picked up a bottle of this stuff, and was wondering if ther's anything I should be aware of before I use it. West Marine wanted over $50.00 for this, but I found it for $40.00 at Boat Services and Outfitters in Holland. Did you use it on mild oxidation as well as heavy oxidation? I've heard use a wool pad for application, and others say foam pad. What did you use that gave the best results? My Baha 277 GLE has mild oxidation on the upper half of the boat where the sun beats on it the most. Would appreciate any input. Do you have any before and after pics of your rig?

[fishsniffer]

heres a link to a site ive been to a lot over the years while restoring an old truck..its a vbulletin forum for auto body...plenty of fiberglass info there..

http://autobodystore.com/forum/index.php

[Rascal Trophy Fishing]

Killerbe20 has the right choice for me. The 3M product I used in a gallon can was a pasty material, we applied with foam pads soft towels, a lot of hard elbow grease, probably 2-3 applications will get you back to new condition. I use an electric wheel, buffer to remove. The cost for 3M is always more, in this case, they have the far superior product like the boat yards all use to "wheel out the hull". You could also get a quote for a wheel out from the boatyard if this is too labor intensive, usually about $300 for boats under 27' or so, check around, they are slow now, must be in heated room this time of year, over 60 degrees. Any pics of the Donzi? Thanks.

[killerbe20]

sorry about that. i did not mean to ignore the previous threads!

my boat had pretty severe oxidation on the top side. worked awesome but i have been told tiara gel coat is know for coming back to new with relative ease. i have not worked on the hull sides yet.

i used a wool pad with a high speed buffer on the first step and a wax master orbital buffer with the wax.

[CITM]

Check out autogeek.net, lots of good info & products. I bought a Porter Cable 7424 random orbital polisher. Regular buffers probably work better for large, open areas but are tough to handle in tight spots and can do damage if you aren't careful. I'll eventually have both.

[MY2SONS]

Check out autogeek.net, lots of good info & products. I bought a Porter Cable 7424 random orbital polisher. Regular buffers probably work better for large, open areas but are tough to handle in tight spots and can do damage if you aren't careful. I'll eventually have both.

I bought a Shurhold random orbital polisher last summer, but I was using foam pads. I was curious if the wool pad typically used for buffing would work well for applications too. Check it out. www.shurhold.com

[CITM]

I've used wool pads on orbital buffers with finishing compound but haven't tried them on random orbital, just foam. Your choice of foam pads can make a big difference, don't be afraid to try 2 or 3 different ones for each compound.

Random orbitals work great for applying and removing wax & polish too.

[Just Hook'n]

I used a similar 3M product to those suggested here. I applied it with a foam brush (like a stain brush), then hit it hard with a 10" milwakee buffer with a wool pad on it. LOTS of elbow grease. did this three times. Then hit it with Meguiars wax two to three times. MAN, I am not looking forward to this, but it's time to do it again.

[cduced]

This winter I am going to start a remod on an old 23 donzi fishing boat. My first plan is to clean up the hull, cockpit and deck. The blue hull has an extreamley cloudy look to it. I lightly buffed it and waxed it this spring. It helped out a little but it seams to be returning.

What is a good buffing agent to use. I have absolutly no experiance with fiberglass so any help wpuld be appreciated.

Thanks Steve

Just to throw out my .02. If it is really bad, clean first, then wet sand with 220, 500, 800 and maybe 1000. Then, 3M Marine Super Duty Rubbing Compound, with wool (http://www.topoftheline.com/metabowoolpad.html), then 3M Finesse-it with a white foam pad (http://www.topoftheline.com/metabowoolpad.html), then wax with Collinite Fiberglass Boat Wax.

It will shine like new and your arms will be huge. -- Bud

PS. Here is some info from 3M. http://multimedia.3m.com/mws/mediawebserver?eeeeeeO48qtezIfeSIfeeFXN0QaEEEE1-