scratches (imbedded)

[Mike Phillips]

I never mind if someone posts their questions to the forum, that is create a thread like this and then shoot me a PM to bring it to my attention or have me chime in.

What I try to get people to shy away from is sending me all their questions in a PM when they should be posting it to the public forum. It's what the forum is for...

You would not believe how many people join this forum have a 0 post count, (that means they're new and have not posted yet), and then send me a Private Message with all their questions.

It's not that I don't like it or appeciate it, but do a word count some day on how many words I type that are on the PUBIC forum and then multiply that by about 10 to include,

• Private Messages
• Facebook
• The other forums I post to
• E-mails

It's all about "typing time" and the best leverage of typing time is where lots of eyeballs can see it, not in a Private Message. And I'm a speed typist!

Mike Stoops has my old sig line in his sig line on MOL.

It's all good... I just have to have balance...

[allenk4]

Contact the dealer and ask if the color is "IN" the gel coat or if it is painted.

I had a 2000 Baja 232, same as the model Mike Philips buffed out here. That color was in the gel coat. The gel coat is thick. Wet sand it...you will be amazed how fast it goes.

Typically, the manufacturer will use a black gel coat behind the color. I would suggest wet sanding a section that is white until you get the correction you seek; without seeing the slight gray tint that means you are running out of white gel coat.

I wet sanded by hand and then finished with M105 on an orange pad with an old Porter Cable 7424. The PC is very slow going, but the results are worth it!

[master_photog]

Thanks for the help all!

Allenk4, what grit of sand paper do you recommend on the gel coat?

Again, thanks for the tips!

[allenk4]

I started with 800 grit, followed by 1200 grit.

Use lots of water or your sandpaper will gum up badly.

I found that M105 was actually able to knock out 1200 grit sanding marks in gel coat.

[FullAttn2Detail]

Mike what do you think about using denim and velvet pads?

[Mike Phillips]

Mike what do you think about using denim and velvet pads?

I think they work pretty good for the right application, check out my article and the hi res pictures here showing what I did with a simple Porter Cable dual action polisher.


How to remove Orange Peel using a Porter Cable Dual Action Polisher







I don't think they will work for the project in this thread however. If the gel-coat is thick enough, it might be possible to wetsand the surface flat and then remove the sanding marks to restore gloss and clarity. Only testing will show...

[master_photog]

I think they work pretty good for the right application, check out my article and the hi res pictures here showing what I did with a simple Porter Cable dual action polisher.


How to remove Orange Peel using a Porter Cable Dual Action Polisher







I don't think they will work for the project in this thread however. If the gel-coat is thick enough, it might be possible to wetsand the surface flat and then remove the sanding marks to restore gloss and clarity. Only testing will show...

How do you determine if the gel coat is thick enough for me to try the wetsanding? Do I assume that since the boat is only 2 years old that the gel coat is thick enough or is there a device to gauge/measure thickness?

[allenk4]

Do a Test Spot

[Mike Phillips]

How do you determine if the gel coat is thick enough for me to try the wetsanding? Do I assume that since the boat is only 2 years old that the gel coat is thick enough or is there a device to gauge/measure thickness?

Well first... lets get your pictures actually "inserted" as that makes it easy to see them and then discuss them. I just ,

• Downloaded them.
• Cropped out the pertinent portions.
• Resized to 800 pixels wide.
• Uploaded to your gallery.
• Inserted them below.

These scratches are BAD!









Here's what I would do...

I would find someone important where you bought the boat and send them the link to this thread, specifically this page with these pictures.

And ask them at what point in their boat manufacturing process are prep scratches like these instilled into the hull.

Then ask them what they recommend to remove them?

Someone at the place that built the boat, not sold it but built it, should be able to look at these pictures and give you some information.

Besides the above approach, if it were mine, I would try wetsanding a small section with some #2000 by hand or #3000 by machine and then compound out my scratches and inspect.

Most gel-coat finishes are thicker than clear coats on cars. That said you still have to be careful because they are not uber thick. There's no strength in the gel-coat when talking about a fiberglas boat. The strength in a fiberglas boat is in the resin with the glass strands in it. The gel-coat provides color/beauty. If boat manufacturers make the gel-coat out skin too thick it will crack because it doesn't have the strength like the resin with the glass. Make sense?


As for this picture below, try using some kind of flat pad so you have more pad in contact with the surface. The issue with convoluted pads is the only time you have "close to" 100% contact of pad with surface is if you apply a lot of pressure to squish the high points flat. If you have to do this you might as well get a flat pad.

[master_photog]

UPDATE - this was a VERY EXPENSIVE trip to the dealership. Good news!! The owner of the dealership did not like the scratches he saw and needed professional advise from a local 'glass' guy. The owner's thoughts and fears were that this came from the factory this way. Once the 'glass' guy showed up and had a look, he confirmed this. The 'glass' guy said that sometimes these imperfections won't present themselves after a year or two in the sun, then they becom very apparent.

Anyway, the dealership, the glass guy and the manufacturer were more than understanding and admitting a flaw in their prep work.

The reason this was an expensive trip is because they offered huge money on our 2012 boat and gave us 2013 pricing on a 2014 boat. So, at the end of the day, we've traded in the boat for a 2014 - boating season is officially over.

Thanks for your help in giving me good questions to ask the dealership.