First time detailing -- 18' boat (picture)

[Hoytman]

Also,

By chance if you should ever want to try and get *more shine*, try doing a search for forum username B&B Tennessee. Anthony has produced some outstanding shine on some terrible looking and heavily neglected boats. It goes without saying that Anthony has perfected his technique.

By saying *more shine* I mean extreme (Anthony is good at creating this type of shine)...as in better than new, imo. However, if you're just a fisherman looking to maintain your boat any of the 4 products I mentioned should serve you well.

*More shine* requires a ton of work, but it sure does look nice.

[primo spaghetti]

Hoytman;

im not familiar with the shurhold product, but i beleive aquabuff is distributed if not made by duratec. we used to use in in the Neptunus plant i worked in when i was a young lad...if it was good enough for million dollar yachts, im certain it will appeal to all boat detailers. i love the stuff and its easy to work with and works like nothing else....and trust me, ive tried almost everything...

Another tip, guys are opticoating boats after all the hard work polishing and restoring!!!

[SuperDave4x4]

Understand completely. I spend a lot of time each year walleye fishing in the walleye capitol of the world.

If my memory serves me, Aquabuff is very similar to Shurhold's Buff Magic and is also used similarly. Primo, I'm sure will correct me if I've misunderstood that product.

If you just want it to look nice, then to me it sounds like you want to spend minimal time taking care of your boat and still maintain a decent look.

In the regard of looking nice with minimal time involved I'd recommend the following products in no particular order:


M67
3M Marine Compound and Finishing Material...two similar products.

Buff Magic (two colors offering different amounts of cut, both pink and white)
Aquabuff (again offering two levels of cut)...two similar products.

Either of these 4 should sever you well in one step with wool on a rotary.
Topping it with Collinite of your choice using a dual action polisher makes the entire two steps a breeze. Then, go fishing.

I take care of the boat. Both of my boats get hand washed after each use. No matter how long it's been in the water. I just don't want to waste an extra day for a little bit of extra shine. Fishing is kicking off hard here in Louisiana.... And I have to get this boat ready for the most part. The trout and redfish are calling my name. Haha

Which wool pads do y'all recommend? I can go get the harbor freight pads but I dont think they are compound or polish specific. Also I'm using a HF rotary for all the steps, no DA here..

[Anthony@zerboautoworks]

I take care of the boat. Both of my boats get hand washed after each use. No matter how long it's been in the water. I just don't want to waste an extra day for a little bit of extra shine. Fishing is kicking off hard here in Louisiana.... And I have to get this boat ready for the most part. The trout and redfish are calling my name. Haha

Which wool pads do y'all recommend? I can go get the harbor freight pads but I dont think they are compound or polish specific. Also I'm using a HF rotary for all the steps, no DA here..

Rotary buffer is most effective on gelcoat.

+1 B&B, did you see the blue and white boat he did recently, I seen it on facebook and all I can say is WOW.

[SuperDave4x4]

I take care of the boat. Both of my boats get hand washed after each use. No matter how long it's been in the water. I just don't want to waste an extra day for a little bit of extra shine. Fishing is kicking off hard here in Louisiana.... And I have to get this boat ready for the most part. The trout and redfish are calling my name. Haha

Which wool pads do y'all recommend? I can go get the harbor freight pads but I dont think they are compound or polish specific. Also I'm using a HF rotary for all the steps, no DA here..

Let me rephrase those first few sentences. I take care of my boat. This boat in the pictures was my parents but they brought it it me in Louisiana to fix and clean and use. They know I'll take care of it and eventually clean the hell out of it. Y'all should have seen it when I got it. DIRTY!!!

[primo spaghetti]

buff and shine and tuffbuff make excellent wool pads. the tuffbuff dont fray and shed like other wool pads for some reason.

[SuperDave4x4]

buff and shine and tuffbuff make excellent wool pads. the tuffbuff dont fray and shed like other wool pads for some reason.

Ill have to look them up. Honestly though ill probably order from auto geek because I received a coupon for signing up.


Just watched B&B Tennesse YouTube videos and all
I can say is I can't wait to start polishing this boat! I love restoring and seeing the end results!

[Hoytman]

Hoytman;

im not familiar with the shurhold product, but i beleive aquabuff is distributed if not made by duratec. we used to use in in the Neptunus plant i worked in when i was a young lad...if it was good enough for million dollar yachts, im certain it will appeal to all boat detailers. i love the stuff and its easy to work with and works like nothing else....and trust me, ive tried almost everything...

Been searching for at least an hour and can't seem to find the video I'm looking for, but there's a video somewhere of Buff Magic being used at the factory (from 50 gallon drums of the product) on SeaRay boats, I think. I'll see if I can find it, but I think the two products are very similar. 3M makes two similar paste products (offered in gallons and possibly larger sizes too) as well, but you won't see it unless you search online for boating supply distributors.

Buff Magic won some sort of reward back in 2003 for their product.

Another tip, guys are opticoating boats after all the hard work polishing and restoring!!!

This something I've considered doing, using opti-gard, but have yet to see any longevity reports on gel-coat. I'll likely hold off until I see some reviews on boats. I don't want to waste good product until I do see a longevity report on gel-coat, or at the least here something from Dr. G. It's likely that Dr. G. has already spoke on this topic and I've missed it.


Jamestown Distributors carries Aqua-Buff Polishing Compounds and it's very likely they get it from the folks you mention and simply sell it. They also carry the Buff Magic, but the prices are better here at Autogeek...especially the 4lb. pale price.

[SuperDave4x4]

Ok, for the top side ill be using M67 but not sure which Collinte to choose just yet.

Now for the side of the boat.. If I use a cleaner wax do I need to put Collinite wax on it as well?

On auto geeks site I can only find a 'light cutting' wool pad. Can I use that to put on the cleaner wax too or do indeed to find something else?

I'm ordering from AG so the pads y'all recommend would have to be from their site.

Bare with me please.

[CarolinaShine]

I buffed out my father in laws boat a few weeks ago. It was a last minute beach trip so I didn't have time to order any marine products. I used a HF rotary also with a Megs wool pad(the ones I have are not sold on AG) It turned out great! Not showroom finish, but shiny enough for a fishing boat.

Products I used(What I had on hand)
-Megs 105(hull)
-Megs D151(topside)
-Collonite 845(hull)

Pick up some Collonite metal wax, it did wonders on all the metal.

I would pick up a heavy cutting pad for compounding, and a light cutting pad for a cleaner wax.

Here's Megs heavy cutting wool pad -

Meguiars Solo Wool Heavy Cutting Pad 7 inch, wool compounding pad, wool leveling pad, meguiars wool pad, swirl remover pad