Bringing back dull green???

[frank]

I'm currently helping a buddy detail his boat. It has a green gelcoat stripe which is still bright near the bow (less sun) but faded as it runs further aft. The hull is in great shape...still has lots of shine so the faded green stripe really stands out. Has anyone had good luch with a certain product or technique to bring back coloured gelcoat? Wax alone doesn't work We tried 3M buffing compound for mildly oxidized hulls to no avail. Just looks "shiny dull green" now. Thoughts??

[relamb]

if you look at the first few pictures of the brown stripe on my CP27 vs the last pic, you can see how faded and dull the brown stripes were.
http://midtechv.com/wp3/?easy-photo-album=compac-27-bottom-paint

I wet sanded the hull with 800 and 1000 grit sandpaper, using an air sander.  the hull is gelcoat, but the stripe was actually painted on.
800 was too coarse for the paint, but fine with the gelcoat.  I had to just use the 1000 grit on the painted stripe.
After that, the entire surface was buffed with a power buffer and 3M finess-it buffing compound, then waxed.
Came out looking great.

[frank]

Your boat came out amazing!!!!   Super job!!

So..if I'm reading this right...wet sand with 1000, power buff with 3M "finess it", then wax.

Like I mentioned...the hull still shines...just the darn green gelcoat stripe looks dull.

THANKS!!!

[relamb]

If it's truly gelcoat, do 800 then 1000 then finess-it, then wax.  My boat has a pretty thick gelcoat, so the 800 was ok.  Wet sand with plenty of water.  I probably should have sanded the hull a little more, there were some old decals that had been on the boat and the gelcoat was not faded under them and you can still see a slight difference if you know where to look, between the faded and unfaded.
But I had to stick to 1000 on the painted stripe, it sanded away very quickly down to the gelcoat, I actually had to touch up the brown paint where I started with the 800 grit.  google "restoring fiberglass gelcoat" and you will find a bunch of info and videos.
I did a CP23 by hand, and my arms were sore for days afterward.  For the CP27 I bought a harbor freight air powered sander to wet sand with.  Didn't want to shock myself with the electric sander.   Start to finish took me two 4-hour days to sand and wax.

[MacGyver]

When I tell customers aobut this process, we always tell them to start with 1000, more work, but will do less damage and easier to fix the sanding scratches the finer the paper. Remember the paper is doing the work, so it may need changed often, and also use water with some dawn in it to allow it to wash the paper out.
Doing a small sectiona nd buffing it out will telly ou the work youll need to do to make the rest look like that also. Circular sanding is better than straight line sanding as far as when it comes time to buff it all out.

Mac

[relamb]

Yup, I definitely forgot about the dish soap.  That's important to the wetsanding. Lots of water, a little soap, and when the paper starts to get clogged or worn, change it.

[frank]

Thanks guys...great info!!!

[brackish]

Hmm, wonder if that would work on epoxy graphite.  I just finished the epoxy graphite coats on the bottom of the skiff I'm building.  unfortunately the final coat was applied on a day that the wind came up with a vengeance after I had tipped it out and my baby butt slick bottom now has dust, bugs, some small leaf flecks, minor orange peel and whatever.  I'd like to slick it back out but retain most of the gloss.  Think going wet with 1000 grit would work on epoxy?

Pic of the current condition.  Looks decent from a distance.  The proof is in the feel and it just ain't right.

[MacGyver]

In your case Brack, I would sand it to get the crap out, pick a nice day, and coat one more coat of epoxy. Which epoxy are you using?

If you take a heat gun, and wave it over the film, it will cause it to flow out on its own accord.

Mac

[brackish]

Which epoxy are you using?

I glassed the boat with Silvertip, but the epoxy graphite is System 3 general marine epoxy with about 20% (by volume) graphite powder mixed in. 

thanks, I may go ahead with another coat and try the heat gun.  But this stuff is a mess to sand with the graphite in it. I'm trying to get the bottom and the rub rail done before it gets too cold to work it so I can turn it over, put it on the trailer and cover it for the winter.  The weather is really causing problems at this point.  May have to buy some fast hardener, everything I've got is slow for summer work.