Wet sanding help

[jimlahey]

Hey everyone

Here is the task:

I have a 1998 air nautique which I am trying to sell before I can upgrade to an '06 210 or possibly 230.

The exterior has some serious scratches and oxidation throughout. I have researched the wetsanding method for refinishing gelcoat, but still need some help regarding the proper steps. I will be using a heat gun to remove the old decals on both sides, and the transom area. My transom area looks very similar to this:

http://www.planetnautique.com/vb3/al...achmentid=7962

The sides of the hull have some decent scratches as well.

Should I be wetsanding the entire hull, or will a rubbing compound work?

Any and all help is much appreciated!!

[ClemsonDave]

Wow, that's going to be a lot of work. When the whole hull looks like that, it will be obvious where you did the work and where you skipped over it.

I'd try just using rubbing compound with an aggressive pad. It won't be perfect, but it also won't take days and days to do. If that doesn't get it to your satisfaction, you will have to wet sand.

I like to start with the least aggressive paper possible with lots of soapy water. If that doesn't get the scratches out, move to the next more aggressive. Once you get the scratches out, then work back to apx 1500 then rubbing compound.

When you sand, go in straight lines. When you change to a less coarse grit, sand at a 90 degree angle. That way you can see when the previous grit scratches are gone.

Here is where I get my pads and compounds. You can put together a kit with the pads and random orbit buffer. 3M and Menzerna make good compounds. You will not need to do as many steps on a boat as you do on a car. Menzerna Powergloss and then Intensitive Polish might be plenty. Make sure you get the appropriate pad for each compound. They are just as important.

[jimlahey]

I will do the sides of the hull with the rubbing compound, but I have a feeling the transom is gonna need some wet sanding.

Can you suggest the appropriate aggressive pad, or maybe a location where I can read up on the whole rubbing compound, polish procedure. I just want to do it right, and give it the attention it deserves.

Thanks for the help so far!!

[ClemsonDave]

I thought I put a link in there.

http://www.autogeek.net/hk7424.html

Use the Yellow pad for compound. Green for polish.

That site has a forum too. I'm sure there is plenty to read. Again, boats don't need as much polishing as cars. You will be surprised how good it looks after just compound. Cars will still be dull at that stage.

[AirTool]

I will do the sides of the hull with the rubbing compound, but I have a feeling the transom is gonna need some wet sanding.

For others to answer: would it be better for him to fill the cracks with some Spectrum gelcoat repair then sand down smooth and polish....so he doesn't loose so much of the original gel?

[andycriner]

I would recomend trying Buff Magic by Starbrite with a buffer and wool pad before I started wet sanding. I have used buff magic on my carver for the last 4 years with great results. I run a buffer with wool pad from harbor frieght. It is inexpensive and works as well 3m pads in my opinion. Shine it up and sell it. Good luck.

[jimlahey]

Thanks!! Ill check out all the options listed, and post some pics of the project for others to see. Thanks for all the help!

[jimlahey]

Question. I live in northern Canada, and getting stuff up here is rediculously expensive. Will an angle grinder work in lieu of the Porter Polisher. If not, is there anything I could buy at the local hardware store, and then just order the pads and compound? It would save me alot of $$$ !!

[High altitude]

I have used the McGuire G110 (On amazon and they will deliver in 2 days if a prime member) with the 105, 205 and showcar glaze plus the pads that go with each one. You can get the pads and polish (generic term) from any pep boys or other auto store. DONT USE AN ANGLE GRINDER. IT must be a orbital buffer/sander. Spend about 10 hours on it and call it good. You could spend hundreds of dollars and tons of hours but your buyer won't pay you for all that time and hard work. Make sure it looks good and then realize that the value of your time is worth more than going the extra step.
Of course, if you were buying it I would have a much different opinion. The value of looking at a boat you fully restored for your own use is actually pretty high. I have been working on my 99 SN for over a year and it makes me happy to see the before and after pics. The problem is... a new buyer will never value your hard work. And I assure you, it will be.

[xrichard]

FWIW, I'd do both...compound in the areas that are just oxidized then wetsand the worst of the scratches.

I ended up wetsanding 80% of one side of my boat and it took me +/-four hours start to finish including masking the decal. After finishing, you can't tell where it's been sanded and where it hasn't. So, though it's a lot of work, it's not unreal and not very physically demanding especially if you're doing large flat areas without decals (e.g. the vertical part of the sides below the rubrail and the transom assuming you're removing all the stickers). Nevertheless, you're probably going to be into it at least 10 hours for those three areas if you want to do a good job.

If you include above the rubrail and under the bow, the time and complexity goes up quite a bit.

[swc5150]

I hope I don't get too much grief for this comment, but if you just want it to shine for resale, you could just go over it with some polish then top it off with some Nufinish? That'll make it glossy enough to sell, and leaves the heavy lifting for the next guy. That won't repair the scratches of course, but it just depends how much work you want to put into it. If you start wet sanding, you'll probably want to replace the graphics as well.

[jimlahey]

Hey Dave

I was wondering if this polisher/sander will do the job for me. I live in Northern Canada, and this is the cheapest solution ($100 or so). Lemme know what you think...

http://www.itctoolscanada.com/site/e...20Soft%20Start