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kayjayfech
03-19-2012, 02:39 PM
I need a little help with this one too....I had some minor sratches on the rear of my boat (white color) and wet sanded them out....now the scratches are gone, but the getcoat shine is gone. I used meguiar's rubbing compound and then wax and nothing worked. Then I bought 3M compound and Finesse Glaze and still nothing. You can clearly see the dull areas that were sanded and no shine at all. Help please!

kaneboats
03-19-2012, 02:41 PM
What # paper did you sand with? You should go to 1500 then 2000 then rubbing compound then polishing compound if you want the shine back.

bkearney
03-19-2012, 02:47 PM
i did some wet sanding with 1000 and 1500 and then did this:

http://kearneyville.com/2012/02/27/first-try-at-boat-detailing/

and it came out. Do you have an electric polisher. I would suggest you get one since I dont think they work well by hand.

kaneboats
03-19-2012, 02:50 PM
A buffer/polisher can rub more in 5 min. than you can do all day.

usaski1
03-19-2012, 03:03 PM
Watch out though... while a buffer can be good, it almost certainty will leave swirl marks. You can also burn the gel coat easy too... A little too much pressure at a little too fast, and you will start to see the color of your boat on your buffer, and maybe a slight divit in the finish. Its too late at that point. Damage has been done. I speak from experience. :-(

bkearney
03-19-2012, 03:12 PM
Wait.. i thought when using buffing compound you are doing light sanding, so you _woud_ see color on the pad.

kayjayfech
03-19-2012, 03:42 PM
I actually used a 1000 grit as a couple of the scratches were rather deep. I do not have an electric buffer, so I was doing everything by hand. I will definitely pick one up. I will post pics soon of the damage and show the after. I do not have an issue with color as this is the top of the both towards the rear and it is all white.

kayjayfech
03-19-2012, 03:42 PM
I forgot to mention I actually used a very small electric sander but with minimal pressure

viking
03-19-2012, 04:01 PM
Watch out though... while a buffer can be good, it almost certainty will leave swirl marks. You can also burn the gel coat easy too... A little too much pressure at a little too fast, and you will start to see the color of your boat on your buffer, and maybe a slight divit in the finish. Its too late at that point. Damage has been done. I speak from experience. :-(

Get an orbital buffer and that will reduce (if not eliminate) the probability of burn in.
I did the same thing on my transom last winter with the wetsanding to get groves out. Followed up in 3 steps with the Porter Cable 7424 Orbital polisher:
#49 - Mequires Oxidation remover
#45 - Mequires High Gloss polisher
#56 - Pure Wax
Worked great. Only complaint was the #49 rubbing compound. Think I'll try a different brand this year as I wasn't fully impressed.

hgvandy
03-19-2012, 06:35 PM
I second what Viking says. I bought the same Porter Cable orbital polisher and it worked wonders on my boat. Like he said, it is almost impossible to burn the gel coat. Good luck.