So I want to detail the outside of my dad's boat for fathers day, how the heck to I do that?

[rwright]

I was thinking about using a coating... maybe the Opti-Coat 2

There you go OP! Polish to remove oxidation and apply Opti-Coat 2.0!

[Mike Phillips]

do you take it in fresh water or salt water?

Me or the OP?

I've taken my boat out once in the Stuart Inlet...

Maiden Voyage - 1967 Starline Deville in Stuart, Florida

[-Longhorn-]

Wash
Compound
Polish
Seal


If there's oxidation you'll want to clean your pads often as they will cake-up with dead, oxidized gel-coat.


As a "general" rule of thumb, you can use automotive compounds and polishes on gel-coats but you don't want to use Marine grade compounds and polishes on automotive finishes as Marine grade products tend to be more aggressive than automotive products and can damage thin, scratch-sensitive clear coat finishes very quickly.

On the other side of the coin, automotive compounds usually won't be aggressive enough to tackle extreme oxidation quickly and efficiently.


Here's a thread with pictures of my boat and in the thread just for fun I used 4-5 different brands to buff out different sections of the boat. When I bought this boat it was pretty much white with oxidation.

Lots of pictures... --> 1967 Starline Deville - Extreme Makeover


The entire boat looked like the triangular section on the rear, right section you see in this picture.






Before



After




After everything inside and out was cut and polished...




Sad to say that the front bow has oxidized again. I'll have it in the Studio this Saturday to remove the oxidation and restore the gloss.

Keep in mind this hull is 44 years old...

Oh no Mike it looks nothing, nothing like that. It looks brand new sans a few swirls and I just want her to bling! I think its a 2002. Wish I had a pic. Let me dig in my eMail here...

[-Longhorn-]

do you take it in fresh water or salt water?

Fresh only.

[dreamps]

mike - amazing job on that boat, just read through the thread! we have a stingray (21ft) and its also a fun tube/wakeboarding boat

op - if you only take it in fresh i would recommend this wax Collinite Paste Fleetwax # 885 its really good

[-Longhorn-]

[-Longhorn-]

[dreamps]

oh dude that looks pretty solid. the newer gel coats are pretty good. all you have to really do is use cleaner wax and then wax/sealant and that will do

i've been doing that to our 05 stingray for years now and still looks great.

[dreamps]

btw apc+ diluted 10:1 or 4:1 does wonders on the interior

[Mike Phillips]

the newer gel coats are pretty good. all you have to really do is use cleaner wax and then wax/sealant and that will do

I would agree.

Looking at the finish quality of your boat in the pictures, a one-step cleaner/wax should work just fine. Then as an option you could apply a finishing wax as a second coat.

• Cleaner/Wax = Offers cleaning ability. Cleans, polishes and protects in one step.

• Finishing Wax = No cleaning ability, just protection. Should only be applied to a finish in excellent condition or a finish previously cleaned and polished. (Using a cleaner/wax first would accomplish cleaning and polishing to get surface to excellent condition)

And instead of a finishing wax you could use a finishing sealant or a coating.

List of all types of waxes and sealants here,

How To Choose The Right Wax or Paint Sealant for your Detailing Project


Coatings here,


3-Categories: Waxes, Paint Sealants and Coatings