A little overwhelmed with my boat

**LS430FL** · 09-27-2013, 12:15 AM

Hi everyone, New guy here on the forum. (I also posted this in the ask the expert section but I think this might might be the correct place instead) I am also pretty new to extensive boat detailing. I have owned boats for a long time but as far as protection I have always just applied some wax. I was recently really looking over my 2006 Grady White 300 marlin. I ran my hand on the sides of the boat and noticed my hands had white chalky residue on them. I immediately was off to the local boat supply store to see what I needed.

I explained to the guy at the store what the problem I was having and he told me I had oxidation. He recommended I wet sand the gel coat and then compound and wax it. He sold me some 1000 grit wet/dry paper, 3M compound and some boat wax with PTEF. I knew I was going to need a new buffer so I ordered the Porter cable 7424xp from here at Autogeek. It came with 5 pads. They are the 6.5” pads with the 5” backing plate I believe (It was a kit) After doing some reading on here, I got orange pads for the compound and I got red to apply the wax. The reason I give you this long story is because I have a few concerns...

I have done a portion of the boat and the results are much better than before. The true cream color that
Grady whites have is restored to almost new and it actually has pretty good shine now. However, especially while compounding with the orange pad I have been running into some issues... First, I still see some minor sanding scratches. I have been having some trouble with the pads and maybe that is why they aren’t all being removed? I don’t know if I am using too much or too little product but a few times while running the buffer, I would move the buffer to another part of the section and the pad would leave behind a patch of pretty thick compound on the surface that was almost dry? I would have to wipe it off with a towel.
Also, the pad stops spinning quite a bit. (I put a black mark to check spinning) Could I have too much product on the pad? After I do one section I have had problems with spinning on the second section. I applied no pressure and a good amount of pressure with the same results.

So, before I continue on the boat, I wanted some professional advice to get the best results. Did the guy at the boat store tell me a correct process or leave anything out? Since having those problems with the buffer pad, I ordered a wool cutting pad from here at Autogeek as well to try that instead of the orange pad. Have not done so yet. Which would you recommend?

Sorry for the long post. I am just a little lost and overwhelmed but I am really eager to learn. I am a do-it-yourselfer type of person and love seeing results from hard work.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

**statusdetailing** · 09-27-2013, 12:34 AM

I hate to tell you this, but IMO the porter cable is just flat out not going to have enough power for gel coat. The Flex is probably the only DA that will handle it. I've got away from using rotary on vehicles, but for boats I bring out the dewalt rotary and marine grade compound on a wool pad.

You need a rotary polisher and a wool pad, and most likely, you can skip the sanding step. 1000 grit is WAY to much. If you do need to sand, 1500 to 2000 would probably be better, but like I said, you probably don't.

The Porter Cable will be fine for the finishing steps and sealing and waxing.

Stop sanding, you'll never get 1000 grit sanding marks out with that DA. No Way

Seek out a professional detailer or buy a rotary would be my advice.

**Eric@CherryOnTop** · 09-27-2013, 06:10 AM

First off, it was incredibly irresponsible of the guy at the store to tell you you needed to sand without even looking at your boat. There's a good chance you could have just compounded the oxidation away, but again, hard to say without looking at your boat. Always use the least aggressive product to get the job done. There is only so much gel coat you can remove before you get down to the fiberglass.

As far as the problems with the polisher, I agree with status that you will never get out 1000 grit sanding scratches on gel coat with a DA polisher. You need a rotary with a wool pad. Using a wool pad on a DA will be an exercise in futility. If your pad is getting gummed up with product and stops spinning under power, you need to "clean it on the fly." This basically involves pressing the pad up against a terry cloth towel and running he polisher so the nap of the towel removes spent product and gel coat. You can do a search here, Mike wrote a great article about that.

Good luck with the project, let us know how it goes.

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Mike Phillips · 09-27-2013, 06:24 AM

Originally Posted by ekennett

First off, it was incredibly irresponsible of the guy at the store to tell you you needed to sand without even looking at your boat.

There's a good chance you could have just compounded the oxidation away, but again, hard to say without looking at your boat.

Always use the least aggressive product to get the job done. There is only so much gel coat you can remove before you get down to the fiberglass.

Absolutely correct. Could not have said it better myself.

Originally Posted by ekennett

As far as the problems with the polisher, I agree with status that you will never get out 1000 grit sanding scratches on gel coat with a DA polisher. You need a rotary with a wool pad.

Absolutely correct. It just plain won't work. You need a rotary buffer with a wool pad.

This is the problem with countermen and counterwomen, there are a few good ones out their but most of them are order takers. They only show up to the job for their check.

Mike Phillips · 09-27-2013, 06:28 AM

Originally Posted by LS430FL

So, before I continue on the boat, I wanted some professional advice to get the best results. Did the guy at the boat store tell me a correct process or leave anything out?

Grady White's are high end boats. The first thing I would do is find out if it has a Awlgrip finish instead of gel-coat. If so, you're not supposed to use anything abrasive on Awlgrip finishes.

If it is gel-coat then I would get a rotary buffer and a wool pad and try just compouding the paint first.

IF that isn't working fast enough or effective enough, then you wetsand.

I wetsanded the hull on my 1967 Starling Deville and then compounded out my sanding marks as compounding wasn't enough. I don't think I ever posted the sanding pictures from this project but here's the end result and the orange gel-coat was white when I started.

1967 Starline Deville - My second boat

In some places the orange gel-coat had oxidized to the point it was turning white...

Here's what she looked like after I completely buffed out the entire hull, look at the gloss coming off the sides of the hull and look how clear the all original plexi-glas wrap-around windshield is... not bad for a windshield that's over 46 years old...

I buffed and waxed the outdrive too...

On the water in Stuart, Florida...

**LS430FL** · 09-27-2013, 09:03 AM

ok thank you all very much for the replies. I can tell I made a mistake listening to that guy. I have only done a small portion of the boat. I would like to get the sides done next from the water line to the rub rails.

If I stop wet sanding and try just compounding first, would I be able to use the porter cable to do so? I have the orange pad and also a wool pad for it. Or is using the porter cable at all to remove oxidation out of the question? I would describe the oxidation as pretty light. I tried a spot with some compound on a hand pad and it took it off and brought out a nice shine.

Mike, that is an interesting point about the awlgrip finish. I am going to look into that as well.

**LS430FL** · 09-27-2013, 09:05 AM

BTW, mike wow! that is all I can say about your boat. After seeing your work all over this forum I expect nothing less but that thing looks brand new! If mine looked half as good I would be thrilled as a beginner to detailing! Excellent work!

**damaged442** · 09-27-2013, 10:27 AM

My gelcoat looked very similar to what Mike showed with his boat. I have an 89 MasterCraft that spent quite a bit of time in the sun before I got it. I ended up using 3M Marine Restorer and Wax. I had no knowledge of AutoGeek back then, so all I had was a 7 inch Craftsman wax spreader and terry cloth bonnets. (I can only imagine how much easier it would have been using what I have today) Realistically, it did a great job bringing the gelcoat back.

Now, every year I take it out of the water, hit it with On & Off, followed by a nice sudsy wash, this year it was Pinnacle XMT. I dry it, then hit it with my PC7424XP with a white LC CCS and some Collinite 920 Fiberglass Boat Cleaner followed by a blue LC CCS and some Collinite 925 Fiberglass Boat Wax. I still keep the 3M around for when I come across a really beat gelcoat that needs it.

**LS430FL** · 09-28-2013, 11:17 PM

damaged442, I replaced my old "car waxer" brand vibrating waxer that was ancient with the porter cable in hopes of using it on the boat. I am glad you are finding it useful. I am going to try the wool pad on the speed 6 setting without wet sanding and see how it does.

**CarolinaShine** · 09-28-2013, 11:42 PM

I would also recommend getting a rotary with a wool pad. If you have a Harbor Freight nearby you can pick up a rotary for about $40. I've had good luck with my HF rotary/Megs wool pad/3M Restorer and Wax. The PC is great for waxing hulls but it really doesn't do much when it comes to cutting through that oxidation.