Liquid Addiction

I have a '04 Donzi 33 ZX and the paint and gelcoat are in pretty good shape. There are a couple of spots on the bow that need to be buffed to bring out that brand-new shine. I want to know some of your technics and products used. High-speed buffer, obital, or hand-polish? Has anyone ever used a rouge stick and if so, what brand?

3pointstar

This is what I've tried and it has worked - but I am in NO WAY a qualified expert on re-finish or buffing

I have a DeWalt random orbital sander - I purchased a sponge pad that "hooks" to the sanding plate from Harbor Freight. I then put some 3M oxidation remover on the pad and did the underside of my boat -- the reason why I used the orbital sander was that the High-Speed (or in my case variable speed) buffer got too heavy to keep above my head -- it took a while but I got ALL of the oxidation off. I then hit it with a little wax and it looks like it came out of the box.

best of luck

3pointstar

nailit

After "offshoreexcursion" recommended "presta" super cut for gel, I was sold!!! My gel was in good shaped but that stuff made it look new and a foot deep shine! Used the compound pad from harbor frieight and it worked awesome.. Still have to do the visible parts of the bottom from the eye down, but it's a great product.

Eliminatorshane

iTrader: (1)

Good deal nail it super cut is all we use. Also use gelcoat cut by presta. I steer away from 3m stuff on gel and use it only on paint. I've been a painter for over 20 years and own a fiberglass shop in Oklahoma. Now here's why we don't use 3m on gel. It's full of petroleum!!! So any boat will look good for a month or two. When we use presta it's water based on gelcoat so what you see is what you get. If boat is heavily oxidized I will cut with aqua1000 then super cut then gelcoat and finally Meg's flagship. I get so tired of hearing about how people use perfect this and that. Take some tranny fluid and go to a boat junkyard and touch a spot with it on a faded boat and wow it looks awesome for about a month. Now polish the gel with water based and then wax it and it will last for 2 to 3 years if u keep it waxed. That's why we made one hell of a name for ourselves on my lake. Some people get tired of paying thousands for something that falls apart every summer. Ours don't and this is our method. Hope this heps

Liquid Addiction

Thanks for the advice. That Presta stuff sounds pretty good. Do you have link on where to purchase it on line?

johnny b good

They have great products, for yearly detailing I use there Chroma 1500 polish followed by Collinite 885 paste wax.

http://www.prestaproducts.com/

MILLERIME

Shane:

I have a 2005 Dominator that has been around salt water. When you wipe your hand across the deck you get a white chalky reside on your hand. I used Meguirs rubbing compound on the transom to remove some black marks followed by there wax. Results were ok but not really impressed. I am going to do the hole boat in a couple of weeks. Could you or anyone else recommend products/steps? I also have a Sears buffer I have used for years on my cars, but it looks like from the threads I have read that everyone is using an orbital. I am not a professional and try to wax my old boat twice a year. Just looking for tools, products and steps to get professional results.

Greg

Eliminatorshane

iTrader: (1)

Buffers are just that buffers. If you have a harbor freight go get a variable speed polisher .we use makitad and dewalt but we use everday so u don't need expensive one but get at least the 70 doll.one as far as chalk you might have to wet sand the boat to close the pores in the gel. If you are a little scared of that then I would start with aqua1000. This stuff will polish raw aluminum. Get you twisted wool pad for aqua and shortcut. Then foam or something no ad aggressive. If you have graphics be careful on those we usually will mask them off in outline and do them seperately if painted on like formula etc.etc. if you could see gel under a microscope you will see its very porous and that is oxidation when the pores are big so what you want to do is close the size of the pore. I can't stress enough about be careful with polisher gel coat loves speed so keep it wet with compound but not a bunch and watch out for cleats etc. The polisher is gear driven and will knock you out if it catches. It's not hard and the end result will make you feel great that you did it yourself and its shiny like a new penny. Every boat is different on how we approach the gelcoat restoring. Keep all your pads seperate and have one pad for each compound. It will suck the first night I know you will be sore from polisher. Follow the steps and read the directions on bottle and enjoy your new shiny boat.if you have any questions don't hesitate to pm me. Thx.

Eliminatorshane

iTrader: (1)

I'm reading some of my posts I'm so sick of spell check!..... This **** gets old some of it don't even make sense and they spell check it anyway

jvthundercat

iTrader: (9)

Well isn't that just peachy!

For sale several gallons of 3M 05955 Super Duty Rubbing Compound.

Thanks for the explanation of the difference, I guess I will order Presta from now on.

That's what I get for avoiding any thread with the word Buffing in it. lol