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Junior Member
Help Removing Hard Water Spots on Boat
Hey everyone, I have a 2008 Malibu Response LX that has hard water spots all over it. It has been this way since I bought it new in 2008 and I finally have time to properly fix it. Last year I tried vinegar and it did not work at all. I just bought the Meguiar's Fiberglass Restoration Kit (link below) to hopefully fix this issue. I have a Griots Garage random orbital polisher that I would like to use, but I only have Meguiar's MF pads, Lake Country red and black. Would any of these pads work for the heavy duty oxidation remover or the polish? If not, I'm going to have to do it all by hand because I'm putting my boat in for the summer this weekend. Any help would be much appreciated!
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Junior Member
Re: Help Removing Hard Water Spots on Boat
Or would you recommend that I do something different?
Here is a picture:
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Super Member
Re: Help Removing Hard Water Spots on Boat
The first issue I see is that you bought a Malibu and not a MasterCraft. (I'm kidding, but I HAD to...)
I've got an 89 MC Tristar 190 that the gel was pretty oxidized when I got her. Initially, I hit it with 3M Gelcoat Restorer and Wax with a Craftsman 7" wax spreader, because it was all that I had at the time, and I knew I wasn't doing it by hand! It was a significant improvement and removed oxidation, but the shine wasn't where I wanted it to be.
Now, I have a PC7424 with 5.5" LC CCS pads. Each spring I hit the boat with Collinite Fiberglass Cleaner (No. 920) (white LC CCS) followed by Collinite Fiberglass Boat Wax (No. 925) (blue LC CCS). She does not look like a 25 year old boat.
It looks like your gelcoat is in good shape with just water spots. Unfortunately, with the black, they are even more noticeable. IMO, I would try the 920/925 combo in a test spot to see if that will work for you. The 920 is very mildly abrasive and should have no issue taking the water spots off and shining everything up again. With the 925, I have yet to find a longer lasting wax for the boat. I do not think you need a heavy duty oxidation remover.
Always liked the Response. The boat has beautiful lines and a great slalom wake. I almost bought one. How bout some pics of the rest of the boat?
I hope to have mine in the water this weekend also!
HIT IT!
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Super Member
Re: Help Removing Hard Water Spots on Boat
CarPro has a product called "spotless" Id try that first since the gel coat looks to be in pretty good condition.
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Re: Help Removing Hard Water Spots on Boat
Acid wash, with either "mary kate on off", or muriatic acid. I would dilute the latter.
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Junior Member
Thanks for the replies!! I will look into those products. I was hoping I could get it done before Saturday but if I have to order something I'll just have to do it on my lift.
Originally Posted by damaged442
The first issue I see is that you bought a Malibu and not a MasterCraft. (I'm kidding, but I HAD to...)
I've got an 89 MC Tristar 190 that the gel was pretty oxidized when I got her. Initially, I hit it with 3M Gelcoat Restorer and Wax with a Craftsman 7" wax spreader, because it was all that I had at the time, and I knew I wasn't doing it by hand! It was a significant improvement and removed oxidation, but the shine wasn't where I wanted it to be.
Now, I have a PC7424 with 5.5" LC CCS pads. Each spring I hit the boat with Collinite Fiberglass Cleaner (No. 920) (white LC CCS) followed by Collinite Fiberglass Boat Wax (No. 925) (blue LC CCS). She does not look like a 25 year old boat.
It looks like your gelcoat is in good shape with just water spots. Unfortunately, with the black, they are even more noticeable. IMO, I would try the 920/925 combo in a test spot to see if that will work for you. The 920 is very mildly abrasive and should have no issue taking the water spots off and shining everything up again. With the 925, I have yet to find a longer lasting wax for the boat. I do not think you need a heavy duty oxidation remover.
Always liked the Response. The boat has beautiful lines and a great slalom wake. I almost bought one. How bout some pics of the rest of the boat?
I hope to have mine in the water this weekend also!
HIT IT!
Haha MasterCraft is a fine choice also! My buddy has a red/pinkish 89 Tristar and loves it. I've always loved Malibu's so that's what we bought. I'll probably order the 920 and 925 for my boat and use it this season or next. Thank for the help!
Here's a few pics I took tonight after I got it out of storage and washed it.
Any pics of yours?
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Junior Member
Originally Posted by Mike.Phillips@Autogeek
So if the "spots" are NOT TOPICAL then recommendations like vinegar and such are not going to work. It's going to require removing some material.
Thanks for the reply! The spots don't seem to be "etched" into the gel coat but vinegar doesn't remove them. When I run my hand across the surface it doesn't really even feel rough. Here's another picture.
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Super Member
Re: Help Removing Hard Water Spots on Boat
I'll make sure I grab a few pics this weekend as I am playing!
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Super Member
Re: Help Removing Hard Water Spots on Boat
CLR followed by some M205 on a white pad worked well for the super hard water spots. Beats sanding the clear. Just a little bit of CLR did the trick while no yellow, orange, or white pad would.
CURRENT: Happily Retired
PAST: Owner at Clean N' Shiny, Chicago Auto Pros
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