Need help with oxidation

**spes** · 06-18-2015, 08:25 AM

Hello,
First post here. I’m hoping you all can help me out with some oxidation questions.
I have a 1980 Grady White. It is a white boat with a brown/tan section around the boat.
This is gel coat not a decal. I can see oxidation, but it doesn’t wipe off on fingers.
I’ve been toying with the idea of purchasing a pc-7424xp,yellow, orange, and white pads.M105 and M205.
Well, before dropping a few hundred I wanted to try to determine if I would get good results in getting rid of the oxidation. I picked a spot to do some wet sanding. I started at 1500 no improvement, so Iworked my way down to 600 only to have my test spot look good wet but cloud back over when dry. I realize no polishing so no shine, my test was to see if the oxidation would go. It appears to have not, leaving me reluctant to throw hundreds in the wind.
Here is a spot wet sanded by hand with 600

I really thought the wet sanding would get rid of this,,

**Trewarin** · 06-18-2015, 08:33 AM

Oh god

**spes** · 06-18-2015, 05:34 PM

I will accept divine intervention.
Until then a human response would be nice.

**spes** · 06-19-2015, 09:56 AM

Nobody?

**dcjredline** · 06-19-2015, 10:09 AM

I think maybe your pic is too close. Can we see a larger view of the whole area? Was there any improvement at all?

**aim4squirrels** · 06-19-2015, 11:04 AM

You won't do squat on gel coat with a PC.

That's rotary work my friend. The absolute lightest approach would be a flex 3401 with foamed wool, but that will likely barely scratch the surface, pardon the pun.

Look for Mike Phillips posts about boat gel coat.

**davidc** · 06-19-2015, 11:53 AM

Originally Posted by aim4squirrels

You won't do squat on gel coat with a PC.

That's rotary work my friend. The absolute lightest approach would be a flex 3401 with foamed wool, but that will likely barely scratch the surface, pardon the pun.

Look for Mike Phillips posts about boat gel coat.

It does not necessarily need wet sanding. Get a rotary and an assortment of wool pads, especially a heavy cut pad. Find some 3M super Duty compound and give that a shot. If you do not have a rotary go to Harbor freight and get one. I have used theirs on my 32' RV and it has worked well. When running the rotary keep it on a low speed, high speed is for sanding.

Dave