Detailing a jet ski

[CTS-Veo]

Jet ski's and boats dont have clearcoats. They have gel coats which is basically pigmented epoxy resin. The paint looks dull because of the fact that the gel coating has oxidized similar to how single stage paints oxidizes.

Is that on top of the color? Or is it a single stage type of paint? When I polished our Seadoo, there was no color transfer on to my pad... I guess it could just be because I was using a finishing polish.

[Gary Sword]

Jet ski's and boats dont have clearcoats. They have gel coats which is basically pigmented epoxy resin. The paint looks dull because of the fact that the gel coating has oxidized similar to how single stage paints oxidizes.

On my jet skis the haul is gel coated fiberglass but there are a lot of parts that are single stage painted plastic. It would take much to go through the single stage paint with an aggresive compound so one needs to be careful.

[Lasthope05]

Is that on top of the color? Or is it a single stage type of paint? When I polished our Seadoo, there was no color transfer on to my pad... I guess it could just be because I was using a finishing polish.

No it is not on top of the color it is similar to how SS paint is with the color and gelcoating mixed together.

On my jet skis the haul is gel coated fiberglass but there are a lot of parts that are single stage painted plastic. It would take much to go through the single stage paint with an aggresive compound so one needs to be careful.

Yup your right. Only the haul is gelcoated and there is no particular reason to be careful except around trim since the coating is fairly thick.

[krouchchocolate]

Gary is right with salt water doesnt really matter what you do, salt water always wins. Not sure if you are using it in fresh or salt but either way there are things you can do to protect it. 303 is one of the best for the UV protection, but there is a lot you can do to restore the faded areas. Just needs a good polishing, and there are several sealants that do hold up better in the water, I like the Collinite Double Coat and or the Klasse twins.

2001 Wave Runner- Fuzion Style

Is this the collinite you are talking about Meghan?
18 oz. Collinite Super DoubleCoat Auto Wax #476, carnauba wax

[sullysdetailing]

Has anyone ever detailed a jet ski before?

Also I just recently purchased a used jet ski, but the front of the jet ski is partially faded from staying out in the sun for too long. Is there anything I can do to restore the "gloss" back into it?


The black part right under the yellow part is where it is dull. Next to the TX numbers.

I would attack it like polishing any other boat. Use a rotary, compound, polish, seal it.

The salt water can do so pretty bad damage to your PWC or boats. After you remove all of the oxidation, take it out of the water and wax it regularly.

[Meghan]

Is this the collinite you are talking about Meghan?
18 oz. Collinite Super DoubleCoat Auto Wax #476, carnauba wax

Yes it is

[Mike Phillips]

Is there anything I can do to restore the "gloss" back into it?


The black part right under the yellow part is where it is dull. Next to the TX numbers.

Are you working by hand or by machine and if machine, which type?

Always match the product to the surface being treated, so

• Treat paint like paint
• Treat gel-coat like gel-coat

The exception would be it's usually okay to use Automotive products on Marine craft but you don't want to use any kind of Marine compounds on Automotive paints as they tend to be a lot more aggressive, this is why it's safest to use Marine product for Marine craft and Automotive products on Automotive paints.

It's both the hardness and thickness factors characteristic to gel-coats that come into play as pointed out and the thinness factor when it comes to automotive paints.

[krouchchocolate]

Are you working by hand or by machine and if machine, which type?

Always match the product to the surface being treated, so

• Treat paint like paint
• Treat gel-coat like gel-coat

The exception would be it's usually okay to use Automotive products on Marine craft but you don't want to use any kind of Marine compounds on Automotive paints as they tend to be a lot more aggressive, this is why it's safest to use Marine product for Marine craft and Automotive products on Automotive paints.

It's both the hardness and thickness factors characteristic to gel-coats that come into play as pointed out and the thinness factor when it comes to automotive paints.

I will be working it with the Porter cable 7424(not sure if this was the model) with the edge 2000 pad kit.

Which marine products would you recommend to polish the oxidized area?

[Mike Phillips]

Which marine products would you recommend to polish the oxidized area?

On my 1976 Starline Deville, everything I tested worked great although some of it was for automotive use.

1967 Starline Deville - Extreme Makeover


The 3M Marine Line worked well and it's a dedicated line for Marine Products. From page 2 of the above thread.

Someone asked me about the 3M Marine Line so I've taped off a section on the back of the boat to demonstrate the 3M Marine Rubbing Compound with a 8" Wool Cutting pad on the Flex Lightweight Rotary Buffer.



Note that I've removed anything off the rear deck that can be removed without too much work to enable me to do the best job of restoring this 42 year old gel-coat. Plus then I can clean up the holes a little and the thread for all the stainless steel screws and re-assemble everything nice and clean.



Here's the results from the compounding step.

I spent a lot of time compounding each square inch, I applied and removed 3 applications of compound with the wool pad. After that I used a yellow foam cutting pad and it seem to dull down the finish, so I re-buffed the entire area again with the wool cutting pad.

Here's the results, the gel-coat is very glossy but if you look at the second picture, it's also very hazy and this haze is the swirls left by the abrasives in the compound and probably also the fibers of the wool pad. You can see that after polishing the DOI is going to increase.

DOI = Distinction of Image. That is how clearly you can see the details of a reflected image.





In keeping within a system approach I'm going to use the 3M recommended Marine Finess-it II Glaze with a 3M Polishing pad.

Started with a 3M foam polishing pad (Per Manufactures instructions)




While it was working okay the 8" size pads are just too big for the shape and design of the back upper surface of this boat. So I switched over to the 5.5 Hydro-Tech Tangerine Foam Polishing and kid you not, this is a smooth polishing combo that quickly removed all the haze and brought the gel-coat up to a very high gloss.









Next I applied the 3M Marine Liquid Wax and because I prefer to apply all my LSP's by machine I used the Griot's Garage ROP on the 3.0 speed setting with a Meguiar's W-8006 foam polishing pad.




After applying the wax I came back to my office, uploaded the photos and posted this update. I'm going to go back out to the AG Garage and start cleaning up, I'll take a picture to show you just how much of a mess buffing out just one corner of this boat made and here at work we try to leave the garage cleaner than when we found it. (It's always clean so that's not saying much).

Maybe read through the entire Starline Deville thread, you might pick up a few pointers...

Also, Meguiar's makes an Oxidation Removal Kit and dedicated products, let me know which line you want to use and I'd be happy to make a recommendation.

[krouchchocolate]

Mike,

Thanks for all your help man! Are the meguiar's or the 3m the type of marine products I can find locally at my auto parts store, or would you have to order them online?