Sign-up: How to Wet Sand, Cut & Buff a 1960 Glastron Fireflight Gel-coat

[Mike Phillips]

Sign-up: How to Wet Sand, Cut & Buff a 1960 Glastron Fireflight Gel-coat


Sign-up: How to wetsand, cut and buff a boat class (http://www.marine31online.com/forum/showthread.php?t=176)



This is a doozy!


John Greviskis just had the top and bottom of a 1960 Glastron Fireflight re-gel-coated. Not re-painted but this but is being fully restored and a part of the restoration process is to re-apply gel-coat to the exterior instead of paint because the gel-coat will be THICKER and hold up to abuse a lot better than a paint job. We have a very rare opportunity coming up to wetsand, cut and buff a 1960 Glastron Fireflight for his TV show, Ship Shape TV.

He is in the middle of completely restoring this 1960 Glastron which has FINS just like a 1957 Chevy.


Gel-Coat Finishing Work
The gel-coat needs to be sanded and buffed and we're going to show how to do this for a segment on Ship Shape TV.


Date
The tentative date for this project is the last week of August, probably looking at Wednesday August 27th and Thursday August 28th.


VERY RARE OPPORTUNITY
If you've ever wanted to learn how to wetsand, cut and buff a boat then start clearing your schedule so you can be here.

These types of projects are very RARE. I'll send someone a free bottle of Marine 31 Gel-Coat Carnauba Wax + Sealant if they can show ANYWHERE on the Internet where the public has been invited to help wetsand, cut and buff a boat restoration project like this not including the classes I've already taught.



NOTE: The boat below is NOT the boat we're going to be working on, it's one I found on the Internet until I can get pictures of the actual boat. It's to give people an idea of what a 1960 Glastron Fireflight looks like and the FINS that were iconic to runabout ski boats built in the 1950's and 1960's.

http://www.marine31online.com/gallery/data/527/1960_Glastron_Fireflight_001.jpg

http://www.marine31online.com/gallery/data/527/1960_Glastron_Fireflight_002.JPG

http://www.marine31online.com/gallery/data/527/1960_Glastron_Fireflight_003.jpg

http://www.marine31online.com/gallery/data/527/1960_Glastron_Fireflight_004.jpg


John Greviskis told me there's a resurgence in restoring classic fiberglas boat and this means there is an increase in the technique of RE-Gel-coating boats instead of painting them.

The other side of the coin is after the boats are re-gel-coated they need to be wet sanded, cut and buffed.

We're going to show how to hand sand and machine sand the new gel-coat on this 1960 Glastron Fireflight using 5" sanding discs from Rupes and compounds, polishes and waxes from Marine 31.

There's no other place in the United States and probably the world where the public, that is our forum members will be invited to be a part of this project.

So this is a rare opportunity indeed.

If you've ever wanted to learn how to wetsand, cut and buff gel-coat boats then clear your schedule to be here the last week of August and get signed up for this event.

Here's the link to the sign-up thread,


Sign-up: How to Wetsand & Buff a 1960 Glastron Fireflight (http://www.marine31online.com/forum/showthread.php?t=176)




So if you have not registered with the Marine31Online discussion forum (http://www.marine31online.com/) then do so today. Currently, it's the only discussion forum dedicated to teaching people how to detail boats. Another first in the industry.


Join Marine31Online.com (http://www.marine31online.com/forum/register.php)


I'll be posting this opportunity to 4 other Marine Discussion forums that are sponsored by Marine 31.


You snooze you lose....

After each boat detailing class I always have people contact me with their sad story about how they missed the class for such and such reason... if it's important to you then make it happen.

You must reply to the sign-up thread on the Marine 31 forum to attend this class, not this thread on the AGO forum.

Thank you.


http://marine31online.com/forum/images/smilies/smile.gif

[Mike Phillips]

For those reading this that might not know what the fins on a 1957 Chevy look like here's my buddy Tim's 1957 Chevy that we did an extreme makeover to a few years ago....


1957 Chevy Extreme Makeover - Pictures & Videos (http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/pictures-autogeek-s-car-week/57514-1957-chevy-extreme-makeover-pictures-video.html)

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1580/Tims57Chevy002.jpg

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1580/Tims57Chevy017.jpg

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/1580/Tims57Chevy003.jpg


Pretty cool....

:)

[Mike Phillips]

***Update****


Spoke with Bob, the President and CEO of Marine 31 and John Greviskis the host of Ship Shape TV and have confirmed with their schedules the dates for this project.

We will be machine sanding and then cutting and buffing the 1960 Glastron Fireflight on,

Date: Thursday, August 28th
Time: 2:00pm to 9:00pm
Location: Marine 31 Detail Shop


We will tentatively start the sanding step at approximately 2:00pm and continue till the project is completed. This means we'll be finishing around 9:00pm on Thursday night.



Flying in to West Palm Beach
West Palm Beach is the closest airport to Stuart, Florida. The airport code for West Palm Beach is PBI

I have three guys that are purchasing air line tickets to fly into West Palm Beach International Airport for this project. To these guys and anyone else, you want to fly into PBI the morning of Thursday, August 28th or the day before.




Where to stay
The Marriott Courtyard is just a few blocks away from the Marine 31 ship

Courtyard Stuart
7615 SW Lost River Road
Stuart, Florida 34997


Marriott Courtyard in Stuart, Florida (http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/pbist-courtyard-stuart/)


This is a very nice hotel with an excellent lounge and restaurant inside the building and they actually have some pretty good food.


http://www.marine31online.com/gallery/data/528/Marriott_Courtyard_Stuart_Florida_001.jpg

http://www.marine31online.com/gallery/data/528/Marriott_Courtyard_Stuart_Florida_002.jpg

http://www.marine31online.com/gallery/data/528/Marriott_Courtyard_Stuart_Florida_003.jpg

http://www.marine31online.com/gallery/data/528/Marriott_Courtyard_Stuart_Florida_004.jpg

http://www.marine31online.com/gallery/data/528/Marriott_Courtyard_Stuart_Florida_005.jpg



http://marine31online.com/forum/images/smilies/smile.gif

[Mike Phillips]

This last Saturday the Ship Shape TV show with the 1960 Glastron Fireflight being sprayed with new Gel-Coat aired on Fox Sports.

I took some pictures using my iPhone to share the progression of this project. I apologize for the small pictures, best I can do when using a phone to take pictures of Ship Shape on TV.


Here's the boat before the top cap was separated from the lower hull.

http://www.marine31online.com/gallery/data/527/1960_Glastron_Wet_Sand_002.jpg

http://www.marine31online.com/gallery/data/527/1960_Glastron_Wet_Sand_003.jpg

http://www.marine31online.com/gallery/data/527/1960_Glastron_Wet_Sand_004.jpg


John and Jeff discussion the process to re-gel-coat a boat.

http://www.marine31online.com/gallery/data/527/1960_Glastron_Wet_Sand_005.jpg

http://www.marine31online.com/gallery/data/527/1960_Glastron_Wet_Sand_006.jpg

http://www.marine31online.com/gallery/data/527/1960_Glastron_Wet_Sand_007.jpg



The floor was rebuilt with new stringers installed.

http://www.marine31online.com/gallery/data/527/1960_Glastron_Wet_Sand_008.jpg


Here you see the top cap is completely oxidized and worn out...

http://www.marine31online.com/gallery/data/527/1960_Glastron_Wet_Sand_011.jpg

http://www.marine31online.com/gallery/data/527/1960_Glastron_Wet_Sand_012.jpg



Here's the hull upside down on a trailer to make it easier to work on after the hull and top cap were separated.

http://www.marine31online.com/gallery/data/527/1960_Glastron_Wet_Sand_009.jpg



Here's the hull being moved off the boat trailer and onto some work dollies.

http://www.marine31online.com/gallery/data/527/1960_Glastron_Wet_Sand_010.jpg




Here's John talking with Rick Hop from Fiberglass Coatings, Inc on the spray gun that is used to shoot gel-coat...

http://www.marine31online.com/gallery/data/527/medium/1960_Glastron_Wet_Sand_021.jpg

http://www.marine31online.com/gallery/data/527/1960_Glastron_Wet_Sand_013.jpg

http://www.marine31online.com/gallery/data/527/1960_Glastron_Wet_Sand_014.jpg


Here's new gel-coat being sprayed onto the hull...

http://www.marine31online.com/gallery/data/527/1960_Glastron_Wet_Sand_015.jpg

http://www.marine31online.com/gallery/data/527/1960_Glastron_Wet_Sand_016.jpg




Here's the top cap being sprayed using gel-coat that has been pigmented to match the green color that came on a 1957 Chevy...

http://www.marine31online.com/gallery/data/527/1960_Glastron_Wet_Sand_017.jpg

http://www.marine31online.com/gallery/data/527/1960_Glastron_Wet_Sand_018.jpg

http://www.marine31online.com/gallery/data/527/1960_Glastron_Wet_Sand_019.jpg


And this is how this episode ends. John Greviskis closes the show by saying the next step will be to wet sand, cut and buff the hull with yours truly here at Marine 31.

So if you want to be a part of this project then get signed up.



Sign-up: How to Wetsand & Buff a 1960 Glastron Fireflight (http://www.marine31online.com/forum/showthread.php?t=176)


http://marine31online.com/forum/images/smilies/smile.gif

[Mike Phillips]

Here's the sign-up list as of EOD on Monday, June 30th.

I have 4 guys tentatively flying in from around the U.S. as soon as they are confirmed I will add them to the list.



Sign-up List

1. Mike Phillips - Of course I'll be here!
2. professionalpolishing
3. Antti
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.





Topics Covered


How to hand sand
How to machine sand
How to use a rotary buffer with a wool pad
How to use a Flex 3401 with a foam pad
How to use the Rupes Bigfoot 21 with a foam pad
How to machine wax and seal gel-coat


Here's the link to the sign-up thread, please reply to the thread if you want to attend this class.


Sign-up: How to Wetsand & Buff a 1960 Glastron Fireflight (http://www.marine31online.com/forum/showthread.php?t=176)



:)

[FrankS]

Sign me up Mike!

[Mike Phillips]

Sign me up Mike!




While I'm promoting this upcoming project on AGO the sign-up thread is technically on our boat detailing discussion forum.

Sign-up: How to Wetsand & Buff a 1960 Glastron Fireflight (http://www.marine31online.com/forum/showthread.php?t=176)



:dblthumb2:

[MPBGT]

This will be cool to see one of these restored properly. I see them at car shows sometimes behind a classic car. Usually they are just resprayed with paint, typically with lots of orange peel.

[Mike Phillips]

This will be cool to see one of these restored properly. I see them at car shows sometimes behind a classic car. Usually they are just resprayed with paint, typically with lots of orange peel.





I'm going to try to get to the boat and take pictures, John told me to contact Bert and he can make it happen.

I'm very interested to learn more about this re-gel-coating process, sounds like the way to go for restoring a boat instead of painting because the layer of gel-coat will be a lot thicker than the layer of paint.

I know you have to have a balance between too little and too much because is you spray too much gel-coat it will get stress cracks where the boat flexes. Gel-coat, which is just pigmented polyester resin doesn't have strength by itself. It gets its strength from the glass fibers used to make a part.


I think this is going to end up being a very good segment for Ship Shape TV.


:)

[Mike Phillips]

This class is filling up fast, here's the current list...



Sign-up List

1. Mike Phillips - Of course I'll be here!
2. professionalpolishing
3. Antti
4. Frank
5. Den
6. Barry
7. Chris
8.
9.
10.


:)

[johnpingol]

Mike, sign me up.

[Mike Phillips]

Mike, sign me up.


Hi John,

Could you do me a favor and reply to the sign-up thread on our Marine forum?

My goal is to keep the "boat talk" on the boat forum as we work to grow it to become the AGO of the Marine world.


Sign-up: How to Wetsand & Buff a 1960 Glastron Fireflight (http://www.marine31online.com/forum/showthread.php?t=176)



Thanks buddy...


:xyxthumbs:

[Mike Phillips]

***Update***


At the time of this post we are 28 days away from this project, the first of it's type where our forum members are invited to help wetsand, cut and buff an freshly sprayed gel-coat finish on a classic 1960 Glastron.

Pretty cool in my world....


Anyway, Bert from Ship Shape TV picked me up today to go over to John's shop to check out the Glastron and take some pictures.

I think a lot of people probably think a new paint job and in this case a new gel-coat "job" would be pretty SMOOTH after being sprayed and drying but that's simply not the case and that's what we're going to fix.

Orange PeelJust like an automotive paint job will have orange peel, that is a surface textures that looks like the surface of the peel on an orange, the new gel-coat finish also has this same pebble like texture.

This means the finish has ZERO gloss and reflectivity, it's rough to the touch and it also has ZERO D.O.I.

D.O.I. = Distinction of Image

D.O.I. means how well or how clearly a surface reflects an image. A glass mirror has 100% D.O.I. this boat has zero. We're going to fix this issue by machine wetsanding the surface and then cutting and polishing to restore gloss using Marine 31 products.



Here's some pictures I took with my trusty, dusty Canon today...

http://www.marine31online.com/gallery/data/527/1960_Glastron_Wet_Sand_030.jpg

http://www.marine31online.com/gallery/data/527/1960_Glastron_Wet_Sand_031.jpg

http://www.marine31online.com/gallery/data/527/1960_Glastron_Wet_Sand_032.jpg

http://www.marine31online.com/gallery/data/527/1960_Glastron_Wet_Sand_033.jpg

http://www.marine31online.com/gallery/data/527/1960_Glastron_Wet_Sand_034.jpg



These are the overhead florescent lights....

http://www.marine31online.com/gallery/data/527/1960_Glastron_Wet_Sand_035.jpg


Notice how hard it is to SEE the florescent lights reflecting off the bow of the boat?

This is due to the rough, pebbled texture of the freshly sprayed gel-coat. This is NORMAL and this is why fresh gel-coat MUST be sanded and buffed to create a beautiful looking finish on the boat.

http://www.marine31online.com/gallery/data/527/1960_Glastron_Wet_Sand_036.jpg

http://www.marine31online.com/gallery/data/527/1960_Glastron_Wet_Sand_037.jpg


Frame-up shot
I'm take a far show of the corner so you can see what I'm photgraphing...

http://www.marine31online.com/gallery/data/527/1960_Glastron_Wet_Sand_038.jpg


Close-up of the above shot...

http://www.marine31online.com/gallery/data/527/1960_Glastron_Wet_Sand_039.jpg


Extreme close-up of the above shot --> Notice the rough texture?

http://www.marine31online.com/gallery/data/527/1960_Glastron_Wet_Sand_040.jpg



This is a chunk of dirt that landed in the fresh, wet gel-coat and then dried there, stuck in the gel-coat.

http://www.marine31online.com/gallery/data/527/1960_Glastron_Wet_Sand_041.jpg



Here's a boat next to the cap of the Glastron in the above pictures, the sides of the gel-coat on this boat are smooth...

http://www.marine31online.com/gallery/data/527/1960_Glastron_Wet_Sand_042.jpg


See how images of the ladder reflect off a smooth surface?

http://www.marine31online.com/gallery/data/527/1960_Glastron_Wet_Sand_043.jpg


The Hull

http://www.marine31online.com/gallery/data/527/1960_Glastron_Wet_Sand_044.jpg

http://www.marine31online.com/gallery/data/527/1960_Glastron_Wet_Sand_045.jpg

http://www.marine31online.com/gallery/data/527/1960_Glastron_Wet_Sand_046.jpg

http://www.marine31online.com/gallery/data/527/1960_Glastron_Wet_Sand_047.jpg


http://www.marine31online.com/gallery/data/527/1960_Glastron_Wet_Sand_048.jpg


http://www.marine31online.com/gallery/data/527/1960_Glastron_Wet_Sand_049.jpg



Well that's the project... we'll be filming Ship Shape TV on Tuesday and if needed Wednesday and then on Thursday we'll be doing the complete project starting at 2:00pm

If you've ever wanted to learn how to,


Machine sand.
Use a rotary buffer.
Use a Flex 3401.
Use a Porter Cable dual action polisher.

Here's your chance!

:)

[sproketser]

Thanx for the updates Mike ! Lovely pix .

[Mike Phillips]

Thanx for the updates Mike ! Lovely pix.




This is a very interesting project. On our Marine 31 forum this thread has almost 8000 views which indicates to me that there's a lot of interest among online boat owners in this topic.


http://www.marine31online.com/gallery/data/526/Wetsanding_Thread.jpg




I'm looking forward to the day when the boat is reassembled and ready to take a cruise in...


http://www.marine31online.com/forum/images/smilies/fisherman.gif