Trojan Boat Forum

another question here , I read in an old boat magazine that you could sand old gelcoat to bring back the like new shine. Has anyone ever done this? what grit would work to try this ? any tips ?

Depends on how deep you need to sand. The coursest you'll probably want to start with is 600 grit, and you can come all the way up to 2000 grit. 600 cuts, but leaves scratches that are more difficult to polish. You can buy several sheets of 600, 1000, 1500 and 2000, then test to see which (or combination of which) works best.

Before you spend a ton of time, you might work a small area, and then look at it several months later. The reason is, after the old geloat has been sanded and polished, it shines real nice, but the effect may not last very long. Very old gelcoat tends to "chalk" very deep, even all the way down to the fiberglass. Frustrating to spend countless hours for a relatively short-lived gloss.

trojanmanXS wrote:another question here , I read in an old boat magazine that you could sand old gelcoat to bring back the like new shine. Has anyone ever done this? what grit would work to try this ? any tips ?

A better alternative than sanding is this product which after a couple of applications will make any dull gelcoat look like new.
http://www.tech-products.com/waxes-9/ma ... ish-7.html

how long have you used this Ready ? So much of that stuff is mop-glo re-bottled ...

Sanding should be a last resort. Try some of the other treatments - like what Ready id'd, or there is VertGlass (similar product I think), or Meguiar's Color Restorer or Heavy Duty Oxidization Remover products, or their Compounding products - first. The Gel is pretty thin, so when it's gone it's gone. The non-sanding solutions are less likely to rip right through it.

For what it's worth, my old boat was a Four Winns Liberator with a dark blue gel stripe (one of the worst for colour fading and chalking). Meguiar's Colour Restorer was all it took to bring it back. Now, that was on the Great Lakes, so depending on where you are or the history of the boat, conditions (UV/salt etc) might be a lot more harsh.

thanks for the input. Ive already exhausted the heavy oxidation remover,pre wax polish co,pound and then two coats of wax. its everything above the rubrail that has me stuck, I did the same as stated above and it worked grade on the hull it actually got a mirror finish on the 30yr old boat but the topside doesnt seem to be effected by the compounds. Ive removed teak trim and realized the shine it USED to have that is still new looking behind the teak. will try the 1000 grit and see what happens , thanks

I don't see that anyone has mentioned this and it may be common knowledge but for those that don't know; make sure you WET sand.

an option not to sand
i use this and i am very happy with look. once applied as suggested it lasts a long time. some people dont like it but i have had nothing but good results and see no reason to change

http://www.poliglow-int.com/poliglow.phtml

G36 - I have been reading a lot on the poliglow product and am seriously considering giving it a try. What has been your experience in the application of it? Is it as easy as they make it out to be? Thanks.

it has been on for 3 years and i am very happy with it. it really shines i can clean spider poop and bird droppings just by hosing them off and no scrubbing. for me just being able to do that with no left behind stain is great. i think we initially put 3 coats on, not difficult but takes alittle time. later added 1 more. this was done in spring time for temp to be right. we bought the kit that includes the applicator and the prep.
if your not sure you could try it on a small spot if you dont want to go all out and see what you think. if you dont like it just remove it. no big deal to do.

I picked this up (poliglow) from the Toronto Boat Show.
Going to try it out, the demonstration at the boat show was pretty convincing.
I actually got to try it out myself on a piece of oxidized and dull fiberglass. So I am a little more convinced rather than just letting a "pro-salesman" do it and observing.
Wasn't cheap. $93 taxes in for the kit
I will take before and after pics best I can and post them up when done.

If it is all shiny and brand new looking, will it "go faster"? LOL (just kidding)
http://www.poliglow-int.com/demo-video/

i used poly glo on mine last year and im very happy with it just make sure you do a very good job with the pred i did mine twice with the poly prep now youll realy see it startin to shine on the 4 and 5th coat i stoped at 6 and it dose shine

alexander38 wrote:how long have you used this Ready ? So much of that stuff is mop-glo re-bottled ...

This fits

Well compounding was just not going to get the job done in my case and I could not be happier with the result,,. athough I could do a better job next time around,, not on this boat this is a one time deal,,

I did leave some swirl marks in some areas that can be seen up close many of them I could not see because of the light i was working in so the next tim I would put light down the sides in low light conditions and spot sand or compound them out ,

I just saw a hook n loop sander with a water attachment at harbor frieght for $59 I am going to get for my car project , I will try that on my mako in the spring

Thier are you tube videos from jamestown distibuters and others with plenty of info







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I use it on a small boat I did reget it Never again not on my boat .

But if its works for you and you are happy with it go for it .