| WildBill |
03-21-2012 07:15 PM |
Bringing back the Gelcoat
Back in the early 90's before Andrew came to Homestead I wanted to paint my '79 Sceptre with Awlgrip. A buddy of mine talked me into trying this proccess first. Wet sand the hull with 400 grit then 600 grit (I wet sanded by spraying the boat with a hose and used a electric makita palm sander " I'm a unionized trained electrician 30 years+" ha,ha crazy huh I know, with just enough D%$b A#@ to boot). Then I bought a commercial grade buffer and used a 3M rubbing compound and 3M yellow bee's wax. It took one evening after work each night to complete each step. When I finished the proccess, the gelcoat looked brand new. I did have the minor dings and scratches left but the Sea Craft yellow hull looked like a million bucks. It looked like a mirror and you could clearly see your reflection . Everyone commented on the quality of the original gelcoat and could'nt believe the results and how they were achieved. The finish was still fine a few years later until the new owner painted her red. Caution; the buffing wheel will make a man out of you, so today 20 year's later I would recommend to take her down the street to the fella's and have them run the buffer for a couple hundred buck's. So try a small spot and see what you can do with your particular finish, that's how I got started and just kept going. You'll know within few minutes of work how she''ll turn out . You could tell the wife you saved a pile of money and now can afford to buy that top of line 12"Lowrance combo unit.
Wild Bill
|
