1967 Starline Deville - Extreme Makeover

Mike Phillips · 10-12-2009, 07:58 AM

Originally Posted by Emile

Really great write-up, Mike. May I ask, what speed(s) were you working in the XMT 4, 3, 2, and 1 with the Flex Rotary? I know you said you worked in the XMT Glaze at speed 1, but I'm just curious what speed you are supposed to polish at with the Flex Rotary?

On the Flex Rotary buffer there's a listing of numbers from 1 to 6 and their correlating RPM's

For heavy cutting with the wool pads I was between 2 and 3, not quite 3 though as that's pretty fast and pretty soon it feels like your pad is just skimming over th surface, not cutting as much as it could by buffing at a little lower speed. For the initial passes for the cutting steps I was also applying some heavy pressure.

For the foam pads I was right on the 2 setting with just firm pressure.

Originally Posted by agpatel

How you liking the Flex rotary? I was thinking of it as my first rotary but dont know about the 1100 rpm low speed, thinking maybe a lower speed would be better for a noob?

The Flex Lightweight is my new favorite rotary buffer mostly because of the size, weight and plenty of power. The casing around the motor was pretty hot after compounding with the 8" wool pad and while I wasn't surprised by this it did make me think that for heavy duty jobs a better RB would be a full size, heavy duty rotary buffer. For the sides I'll be using all of the full size models, Flex, DeWalt and Makita.

Originally Posted by belcherm58

I would like to see a Menzerna trial somewhere. You pick the poison as there are a bunch to pick from. Some heavy cutters to fine finishers. I have been just starting to use Menzerna. One thing I notice that it takes
very little polish to work and it works for a long time before it starts drying up.

No problemo... the boat will be here all week.

**discoverypro** · 10-12-2009, 02:37 PM

Wow Mike--its looking awesome--lots of work still to go--but looking GREAT !!!!

**RaskyR1** · 10-12-2009, 04:37 PM

Wow! Nice transformation so far Mike! Working on boats is a LOT more work than buffing out cars IMO, especially when you get up toward the bow and have to buff that inward angle.

I'll definitely be checking back in on this thread!

Mike Phillips · 10-12-2009, 05:05 PM

Originally Posted by agpatel

How you liking the Flex rotary? I was thinking of it as my first rotary but dont know about the 1100 rpm low speed, thinking maybe a lower speed would be better for a noob?

For what it's worth, I don't ever use the rotary buffers below 1000 rpms and rarely use it at lower speeds. Most my low speed buffing would be in the 1300 to 1400 range. Maybe it's just me but it seems like at low speeds the rotary buffer is more difficult to control.

Originally Posted by RaskyR1

Wow! Nice transformation so far Mike! Working on boats is a LOT more work than buffing out cars IMO, especially when you get up toward the bow and have to buff that inward angle.

I'll definitely be checking back in on this thread!

Pushing away from the keyboard now and heading out to the garage to do another section, might tackle the bow then I can make a video on how to apply and remove a wax for another article.

**RTexasF** · 10-12-2009, 05:42 PM

Lots of hard work there and more to come. I must assume that the 50mph figure is a typo. The 2.5 120 (rated at the crank back then) isn't capable of doing that but you know that since you had a true performance boat previously. That will outshine a showroom new boat when you get through with it.

Mike Phillips · 10-12-2009, 06:10 PM

Originally Posted by RTexasF

Lots of hard work there and more to come. I must assume that the 50mph figure is a typo.

Well 45 mph for sure, I remember seeing the Speedo read that, I guessed at 50 because she's always had a little misfire to her and that's why I'm installing the Pertronix electronic ignition. I want to get away from the points type ignition and I figured after a thorough tune-up she'd top out around 50 mph.

I did just have a Rochester Carburetor Pro rebuild the Carburetor too... and haven't had her in the water since the rebuild. When I get to the day I can take her out and see what she'll do I'll take a little video.

I found a place that sales what I think is a 3.0 replacement with all the go-fast goodies that looks tempting if the boat ever gest to the point where I have to R&R the running gear.

Not anywhere near as fast as slamming the foot pedal down on the Sanger Drag boat with a big block chevy but not bad for a family ski boat.

If possible, someday I'd like to get a Sanger Bubble Deck, Runner Bottom V-drive, from the 1976/1977 era, not sure they made any after that.

Back to the garage...

**RTexasF** · 10-12-2009, 07:25 PM

Take a GPS with you on the next ride. I believe you will find that the boat's speedo is uh, quite optimistic (as most are). I'm anxious to see all the pics once it is done.

Mike Phillips · 10-12-2009, 07:53 PM

Here we go... the boat's been under a blue tarp since it arrived from California and you can see where the exposure has accelerated the oxidation towards the front of the bow.

The windshield is the original windshield and for those that have not been around a lot of old boats like this it's incredibly rare to find a windshield this old that's not missing to start with let alone not cracked, crazed or yellowed and scratched to oblivion.

Sad to say, after I get her all buffed out and tuned-up and ready to rock-n-roll, I'll probably remove the windshield and store it someplace to keep it safe. The biggest problem is people getting in and out of the boat will grab it to brace themselves which is normal, heck I even do it but if you're not careful you could easily apply too much pressure and I think at its age, crack it.

I hate doing that because it looks so cool, like the windshield on a 1957 Corvette but I would bet a million dollars there are no replacements left on earth. One of you Google Super Searches feel free to find me a good replacement and I'll leave it on.

I've removed all the brightwork to enable me to buff the gel-coat under all of it and to also prevent me from catching my buffing pad on anything and causing damage.

I've also used a beach towel to cover the windshield to prevent compounding splatter from getting onto it and because it was kind of ugly I placed a really cool banner out of Max's office over it.

Thought I would give the Optimum Line a test drive and see how it tackles antique gel-coat.

The product placement shot...

And I'll try to capture some of the compounding and polishing process on video... no promises but if it turns out good enough and if I can somehow edit to clean it up enough to make it viewable then I'll upload it to the Autogeek YouTube Channel .

Mike Phillips · 10-12-2009, 11:51 PM

Couldn't find a cloth to cover half the bow but I did find a large piece of flat cardboard, so I taped it down and actually had to place one of my tool boxes on it to keep it from lifting the tape-line off.

Don't know how the video turned out but I did turn the camera on and try to capture the process.

Have never used this system before and there was a little bit of a learning curve with the compound and the Flex rotary buffer. The buffer bogged down under pressure so I had to bump the speed setting up to counter this and still get a quick rotating speed.

The compound buffed kind of hard for the first passes but after it chewed off all the upper portions of the dead, oxidized gel-coat it smoothed out.

Keep in mind, this Optima System is an automotive line and this was just a test for fun on this old gel-coat.

Time to close down the Autogeek Garage...

**agpatel** · 10-13-2009, 12:35 AM

Do you just have a bed and room over there at AG Mike? Seems like you are there all hours of the night, haha.

Nice work on the boat, also nice to see a whole range of products being tested.

Thanks for the Flex rotary info, I will have to drop a few hints about it as Christmas gets closer, hehe.