How do you get a faded gel-coat to come back on our boat without re-gelling it?

Question

Its our first boat and we dont want to do anything the wrong way.

The color is red but it looks a little pink.

Its a 25' 1987 four winns liberator 241.

Thank you

Answer 1

You can purchase a buffing compound that is specifically for gel coat restoration. You can find it at marine stores such as West Marine or maybe even some Automotive stores. If you have trouble finding it, contact some local marinas and they should be able to help. There are some restoration compounds that are so easy to apply that you don't need to use a buffer. For severely faded gel coats, its some wet-sanding to "dig" back into the color and some buffing to get back the original shine. Just make sure that you don't burn through the gel coat when your buffing. Hand buff any sharp edges to avoid this (from experience) and you should be okay. You own a very cool boat, so the elbow grease will be worth it........ Happy Boating.

Answer 2

there is ONLY 1 way,,,ive painted custom yachts for years,,you need 4000 grit wet sandpaper,,wet sand till everything is smooth ( cause faded also means "bumpy" feel it,,),,after wet sanding (and you need to HAND sand with a block, and keep very wet)<im sounding pervy hehe,,, and be careful not to sand through the gel! after that you need to buy some FINE buffing compound,,3m makes the best,,and a few 2" chip brush's to apply the compound and then use the handle of the brush to clean your buffing bonnet, then after buffing you need to wax.,,P.S. ,,while buffing be VERY aware of the heat generated,,on the boat,,buff fer a second,,and then feel there and you'll feel the heat. and also while you wax,,,do a 2' x 3' area at a time,,if this is your first time it could even be a smaller area.,,,or go to this site and ask,,,them guys know EVERYTHING!!

http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/forumdi...

Answer 3

If it's not too bad, and only the very surface is effected, some of the above mentioned products and methods may be of benefit.  However, most fiberglass boats reach an age where the gelcoat just doesn't have any shine left.    rather then "re-gelling", most boat owners just accept it's now time to spend a little time, money and effort painting with a quality boat paint.

Answer 4

My boat was totally faded a few years ago, and my local body shop guy brought it back to A+ condition. It looks great today four years later.

Funny, I told the forum exactly what he did to restore the finish, and................................

I GOT FLAMED!

I won't share the process again.

Best of luck.

Edit and Hint: Josh should get flamed.

Edit2: A thumbs down, what a surprise!

Answer 5

From my own experience don't take short cuts. Ensure that any of the cutting compounds and waxes are specially formulated for fiberglass and the marine environment.

It's worth taking a stroll to any marina where similar boats are around and asking some of the old timers how they go about it, an what products to use.

My biggest problem was there were so many products around that claim to do the same, but eventually spoke to the right people and ended up with a very pleasing result.

Red is going to be a hard color to bring back to life especially if it's faded to pink. Don't despair and give up. It's all part of the boating experience.

Enjoy. Steve

Answer 6

Wish TrueNorth had restated what was done for I've found his answers to be right on the money. There are too many who post here that believe they have the answers and rate those who do know with a thumb down that it's making this site hard to know who's got the knowledge & who doesn't.

We had an 89 Chaparral that had a painted black stripe running from the windshield to the bow. Every year I would have to work on this to bring it back so that it would have a shine to it. It turned into a labor of love and a challenge. What I did was to apply a color restorer (didn't have a preference) by buffer & remove it by same, then apply 3M's cleaner/wax (again on/off by buffer) and finally top it off with a teflon liquid wax by hand. This brought it back Kelly so that you could have put your makeup on with the reflection it gave!

Split the duties...one wax and the other buff. 25' of boat doesn't sound like much until you add it all together and find that you have probably somewhere around 750 sq ft of waxable surface to do and possibly 2-3 times to get her back to looking good.

And someone is bound and determined to ask why we didn't clear coat the painted area and the answer is simply that I'm a believer in keeping it looking original. I performed the above steps each year for for 16 years and she looked great the day we sold her for $3500 over blue book value.

Question...how ya'll doing with naming her? Come up with one yet?

Answer 7

Use VANISOL, it will bring all your color back, and all you do is wipe it on the haul and then spray it off with water after a few minutes. Vanisol is labelled as a toilet and stainless steel bowl cleaner, many shipyards use it to clean fiberglass also.

The Vanisol will make a mist come off the boat, but it does not hurt the gelcoat. After cleaning with Vanisol, if you want the finish to stay nice simply wax the boat and it will look brand new.

I used to do this all the time with my fiberglass gillnet/troller commercial fishing boat. Vanisol also works great for hard water slag, which makes white fiberglass boats go a brown color.

Answer 8

Red is a colour that fades real easy due to the wave length spectrum of light.

The best product I've found to use is made by 3M it's called Finial Glaze. It comes in 1Ltr bottles which is plenty for any job, all most liquid in texture and brown in colour an auto body shop can get this for you.

I use this stuff religiously and works on all kinds of paint and gel coats, just hand or electric buff in and wipe off the residue. There's no fear of scratching and does a fantastic job.

You will probably find that paint has not faded but oxidised instead 3M Finial Glaze will repair both problems. I hope this helps you and welcome to the boating world enjoy your new boat.

P.S. Thanx for the thumbs up.

P.S. Again cutting the paint with paper is a long and tedious job and might ruin your finish, go the easier and safer route suggested earlier. I promise you won't be disappointed.

Answer 9

This will work if the oxidation is not right through the gel coat. Wet sand it gently with 300 to 400 grit sandpaper.  Experiment in a small area.  Do not sand too much or you will go through the gel coat.  It is very thin.  Then wax it  with a good marine fiberglass wax like Meguiars.  Good luck.

Answer 10

I am not up to speed on finishes and polishes. But a reputable auto detailer could advise you on a type of compound which contains an abrasive. This is applied like wax and will bring back some luster in the finish. This can then be finished off with a compatible wax.

Answer 11

do not use comet, use bar keepers friend or bon ami

Answer 12

Some credible auto detailers use a buffer that would make it look alot better.

Answer 13

The last guy got it about right, except as far an finishes go, gel coat is fairly thick (it is actually the first coat in the building process).

Use Comet, and a teflon pad----I know what you are thinking, but remember your bathtub? It is a boat you fill intead of floating. After a good scrubbing, if oxidation is still there, then wet sand with 300 grit, then machine buff. I use a 3M "Finesse" product with good results. It's not cheap, but it works well. Then put a couple of wax coats on it. I like MaGuires (sp?).

You can do all that without a machine buffer, but you'll look like Popeye when you are done! Ask some of the car wash (detailing) shops what they would charge to buff and wax. It might not be too bad.