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krouchchocolate
11-29-2009, 02:46 AM
Has anyone ever detailed a jet ski before?

Also I just recently purchased a used jet ski, but the front of the jet ski is partially faded from staying out in the sun for too long. Is there anything I can do to restore the "gloss" back into it?


The black part right under the yellow part is where it is dull. Next to the TX numbers.
http://images.craigslist.org/3k33p53la5O35Te5S59brf3ac4c71659d1c29.jpg

Gary Sword
11-29-2009, 07:50 AM
I have 2 jet skis that sit out on my dock 24/7. You can polish painted parts just like you would you car to bring back the gloss. On plastic 303 work pretty good buy nothing seems to hold up to saltwater very good.

Meghan
11-29-2009, 09:08 AM
Gary is right with salt water doesnt really matter what you do, salt water always wins. Not sure if you are using it in fresh or salt but either way there are things you can do to protect it. 303 is one of the best for the UV protection, but there is a lot you can do to restore the faded areas. Just needs a good polishing, and there are several sealants that do hold up better in the water, I like the Collinite Double Coat and or the Klasse twins.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/show-n-shine/15353-2001-wave-runner-fuzion-style.html

krouchchocolate
11-29-2009, 12:09 PM
Gary is right with salt water doesnt really matter what you do, salt water always wins. Not sure if you are using it in fresh or salt but either way there are things you can do to protect it. 303 is one of the best for the UV protection, but there is a lot you can do to restore the faded areas. Just needs a good polishing, and there are several sealants that do hold up better in the water, I like the Collinite Double Coat and or the Klasse twins.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/show-n-shine/15353-2001-wave-runner-fuzion-style.html

So the black area just needs a good polishing. What kind of polish do you guys recommend? Right now i currently have the 3 stages of the optimum polishes. The polish, compound, and heavy compound.

I also have the klasse twins, so I will use those for protecting it.

krouchchocolate
11-29-2009, 12:10 PM
The 303 you guys are talking about is the 303 aerospace protectant correct?

Gary Sword
11-29-2009, 06:03 PM
Optimum makes some find polishes. Just like with your car's paint start out with the least aggressive polish you think will do the job on a test spot and see how it goes. 303 Aerospace Protectant is correct.

Lasthope05
11-29-2009, 06:27 PM
On oxidized gel coats like on your pwc I would start with a compound first. Gel coats are different from automotive paint in which they are much harder.

I usually start with a compound and foam. If it doesnt work I'll switch to a wool pad. My last resorts for or very stuborn oxidation is 1500 wet sand, wool and 3m superduty.

For trim on anything that touches water i like SC1 ClearCoat. Its a great protectant thats water resistant lasts fairly long and best of all it smells like pixie sticks.

krouchchocolate
11-29-2009, 07:14 PM
Is there a way I can tell if the clear coat is gone? Could that be why the paint looks dull in that area?

CTS-Veo
11-29-2009, 07:44 PM
if the clear coat is gone, when you polish your pad will start to show the color of the paint. When you polish you are removing a small amount of paint. If you are polishing clear coat; the paint is clear (obveosly) so you don't see the paint building up on the pad. If it was the base coat (color) that you are polishing, you will be able to see the paint; that you removed; on the pad.

I just recently did a detail on my dads Seadoo PWC, and it's not nearly as fun as I expected. There are so many different panels that need to be worked on, instead of a few big panels. And so many different materials used on the body (there was like 4 different textures of plastic trim).

I used Optimum Poli-seal on the lower half. WG Finishing Glaze on the upper painted panels, with a coat of Collinite 845, topped with DP Max Wax (the DP was just for looks while it's in storage). All of the plastic trim was dressed with Optimum Opti-bond tire gel. The Opti-bond worked fantastic! It even looked good on the ruberized foam material on the back platform.

Here's a picture of how it turned out:
http://i308.photobucket.com/albums/kk350/CTS-Veo/IMG_1255.jpg
http://i308.photobucket.com/albums/kk350/CTS-Veo/IMG_1253.jpg

Lasthope05
11-29-2009, 08:04 PM
Is there a way I can tell if the clear coat is gone? Could that be why the paint looks dull in that area?

Jet ski's and boats dont have clearcoats. They have gel coats which is basically pigmented epoxy resin. The paint looks dull because of the fact that the gel coating has oxidized similar to how single stage paints oxidizes.

CTS-Veo
11-29-2009, 08:29 PM
Jet ski's and boats dont have clearcoats. They have gel coats which is basically pigmented epoxy resin. The paint looks dull because of the fact that the gel coating has oxidized similar to how single stage paints oxidizes.
Is that on top of the color? Or is it a single stage type of paint? When I polished our Seadoo, there was no color transfer on to my pad... I guess it could just be because I was using a finishing polish.

Gary Sword
11-29-2009, 08:36 PM
Jet ski's and boats dont have clearcoats. They have gel coats which is basically pigmented epoxy resin. The paint looks dull because of the fact that the gel coating has oxidized similar to how single stage paints oxidizes.

On my jet skis the haul is gel coated fiberglass but there are a lot of parts that are single stage painted plastic. It would take much to go through the single stage paint with an aggresive compound so one needs to be careful.

Lasthope05
11-29-2009, 08:50 PM
Is that on top of the color? Or is it a single stage type of paint? When I polished our Seadoo, there was no color transfer on to my pad... I guess it could just be because I was using a finishing polish.

No it is not on top of the color it is similar to how SS paint is with the color and gelcoating mixed together.


On my jet skis the haul is gel coated fiberglass but there are a lot of parts that are single stage painted plastic. It would take much to go through the single stage paint with an aggresive compound so one needs to be careful.

Yup your right. Only the haul is gelcoated and there is no particular reason to be careful except around trim since the coating is fairly thick.

krouchchocolate
11-30-2009, 08:57 AM
Gary is right with salt water doesnt really matter what you do, salt water always wins. Not sure if you are using it in fresh or salt but either way there are things you can do to protect it. 303 is one of the best for the UV protection, but there is a lot you can do to restore the faded areas. Just needs a good polishing, and there are several sealants that do hold up better in the water, I like the Collinite Double Coat and or the Klasse twins.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/show-n-shine/15353-2001-wave-runner-fuzion-style.html


Is this the collinite you are talking about Meghan?
18 oz. Collinite Super DoubleCoat Auto Wax #476, carnauba wax (http://www.autogeek.net/super-doublecoat-wax.html)

sullysdetailing
11-30-2009, 11:43 AM
Has anyone ever detailed a jet ski before?

Also I just recently purchased a used jet ski, but the front of the jet ski is partially faded from staying out in the sun for too long. Is there anything I can do to restore the "gloss" back into it?


The black part right under the yellow part is where it is dull. Next to the TX numbers.
http://images.craigslist.org/3k33p53la5O35Te5S59brf3ac4c71659d1c29.jpg

I would attack it like polishing any other boat. Use a rotary, compound, polish, seal it.

The salt water can do so pretty bad damage to your PWC or boats. After you remove all of the oxidation, take it out of the water and wax it regularly.