Eliminatorshane

iTrader: (1)

Nice job vc. To the others you won't need aqua if it's not heavily oxidized the super cut and gel coat compound should do what you need then follow with flagship. As far polisher I would use the dual action with flagship and polisher with the cutting compound. It's hard to mess up but if your scared that's ok. On white gel a burn is really a burn it turns it yellow then you have to wets and it out and hope you don't cut through. I only posted about the water based stuff so everyone on here can stop wasting time with petro products I.e. Automotive product. Now if it's painted graphics then that's different. It's very important on the wax too because the flagship is designed for gel it's polymer based. I will try new products anytime also. Glass Dave recommended somebody some stuff I've never heard of and I'm looking into that to try. Polishing a boat is not the easiest stuff in the world but the end result will leave you feeling good and it WILL last. Nothing works better than elbow grease and if it's easy stuff like wipe on wipe off then it don't last. Just a side note from a repairer stand point stuff like vertiglass is a joke and is a repairer nightmare. I say when you are done post pics of before and after and watch how long your hard work lasts compared to 3m perfect it and the other compounds they have. But don't get me wrong I won't use anything else besides the 3m on paint there is nothing better and as crazy as this sounds I love presta on boats but hate it on cars. When we used it on cars and I worked on European mostly it would polish great then when you washed car for delivery sand scratches would come back and it drove us crazy which was with sikkens autoclear 2 and that stuff flowed out to glass when baked so polishing a nice laid out job sucked. We would nib a couple pieces of dirt and it would show back up. But presta super cut , gelcoat compound hands down on boats. I hope this helps everyone. Most of all enjoy make your boat pretty rather a 18 foot or 45 skater have fun....

Meshikinquah

iTrader: (1)

Looks nice......

glassdave

iTrader: (1)

good stuff, ya know what i find interesting about products is the range of results with any given compound. I have pretty much given up on everything 3M and Meguires has to offer but at the same time cant argue with the results i see from other pros in the biz. I use Farecla G3 on restoring or finalizing fresh paint jobs with fantastic results. For restoring gel i use Virba Cut and Totally Buff from www.fountainofyouthrestore.com and have had the best results out of any product i have ever had in my shop yet occasionally i have heard it doesnt work for some. I think Mastercraft on here used Vibra on one of his boats with not great results, I have no doubt he knows what hes doing but at the same time shows you how much each of our techniques vary and how sensitive some of these products are, a few others have had mixed results as well. As you get familiar with one product the techniques dont necessarily transfer to another. You have to develop an ability to sort of see how a compound works and how to bring out the results. Buffer speed, pressure, direction, pad etc all come into play but some things are a standard given like keeping pads fresh and segregated by what compound you use on it, one product per pad. Wool on gel and foam on paint is what i stick with but at the same time i have an old school custom painter near me that swears by wool on everything and his show cars are flawless plus he still wet sand everything by hand (i do everything with a da but we are wor5king large flat surfaces).

Give Totally Buff a shot, its a self cleaning diminishing compound that works itself down to a polish as you go and the thing i like about it the most is it never loads up the pad. I have done my 38ZX without ever spurring the pad once. Word of warning though it flings off this dusty stuff as you go that blows away pretty easy but makes a mess out of the work area if you do a lot of boats. Best to use it outside if ya can, its not horrible but kind of a nuisance

If your lookin to try some of there stuff give them a call and ask for Kevin tell him glassdave sent ya
Totally Buff - light polishing and oxidation
Vibra Cut - heavy cut
Vitreo - final wax
Quick Shine - real nice detail wax

dunnitagain

I've got to recommend the FOY products also. After spending Days, Buffing a 89 Wellcraft with 3M. My samples of Vibra Cut arrived and Holy ****... That stuff is incredible. It will remove water scum, grease and hand prints , and leave a shine with minimal effort . I threw about 500.00 worth of 3M crap in the garbage. I'm looking forward to the Presta and Aqua Buff ,showing up. We have about 5 boats to compound out !

glassdave

iTrader: (1)

haven't tried Presta yet gonna hafts check it out, Aqua Buff is nice stuff though. With the FOY products I try to use Totally Buff on most stuff because it clears the pad so nice. Vibra is some rippin stuff but does load the pad a bit so ya hafta spur often, guess thats to be expected with a heavy cut.

Anyone remember Rolite? This is what we use to use before there were good specific marine compounds. It was an aluminum polish used by machine shops. it worked pretty well but was a pain to use, loaded up the pad and smeared the surface if you weren't careful around cleats and stuff. It was unavailable for a year or so then showed back up with a new lable and a can half the size for the same price I think it was called Yacht Brite or something. It was an old school compound that pales by todays products.

MR252SS

I used Shurhold Buff Magic and Pro Polish with good results and then tried FOY products The FOY products worked great. This year I am trying Performance Boat Candy. The Performance Boat products in my opinion seemed to do a little better than the FOY products but, the true test will be the durability. It will be interesting to how the Performance Boat Candy stands up to the elements.

MR252SS

P.S. I used the Fountain of Youth products after reading posts by glassdave. Thanks Dave!

40gt

Old topic but still very relevant.

I just finished polishing my 382.
It was quite chalky when I started.

Definitely a huge job - I used Buff Magic and then finished with Vitreo ( Fountain of Youth product ) for the final wax.

Personally I'm very happy with the final result.

TorchLK

Just ordered a quart each of Totally Buff, Vitreo, and Quick Shine. Excited to see how this works on my 27 ZR!

40gt

One tip I agree with is - only use quality wool pads and change them out frequently.
Let the polishing begin!