need help!

[AirJordan175]

i just got odone peeling off the old original decals off my 1988 2001 SN

i need to know what step i should start next on the gelcoat

i dont know if the gel needs to be wetsanded, or just a good buffing

any advice is appreciated

with decals off

[MHayes]

RE: need help!

I think I'd keep going and pull that pinstripe off as well. You also need to get some Goo Gone to get the remainder of the decal glue off the boat. The oxidation doesn't look too bad, so you might try a heavy cutting compound first before thinking about wetsanding.

[AirJordan175]

RE: need help!

yea, im deffinitly going to pull the pinstripe, i just called it quits because its so hot outside, but yea ill look into come compounds

any preferences?

[bbc3]

I did that on our old boat. I would recommend using Meguiar's Heavy Oxidation Remover. I used a wool finishing pad with a high speed buffer. Takes a little patience with the wool pad, but you have much less risk of burning through your gel coat (which is much easier to do with a more abrasive foam pad).

Our boat looked almost exactly like yours with the residual from the original decals. After taking some time with the buffer and Meguiar's, it looked better than the day we bought it. I'd shy away from some of the more abrasive cutting compounds unless you really know what you're doing. Heavy Oxidation Remover will strip everything you're showing in your pics off and not too much more. You'll have to follow with a good polish (to replenish the oils you stripped off the fiberglass), and then probably 2 solid coats of wax.

If your boat is like ours, the gel coat will be slightly less faded where the decals were. This is nice for getting the new decals lined up perfectly.

Just my $.02. Good luck and be sure to take some "after" pics to share....I'll bet it'll look amazing!