After posting a picture with a patriotic paint scheme, and thinking this prject out we have decided (90%) to leave the original paint scheme on the Formula 302. Here it is after one week of rubbing it out.

Looks good. Damn good in fact.
What are you going to do with the bottom?

Nice job! What did you use on it? I have a 1981 Formula that I am redoing. It has brown sides and I've tried compounding, and wet sanding. Nothing will bring the shine back. I accidently found if I put Thompson's Water Seal on it, it'll shine nice for about a month.
I finally put a few hours into it yesterday. It's hard for me to make time for the project when the weather is so nice and I have another Formula to go out in.

Try ON/Off on the bottom. You can get it at most Boat US and West Marine Stores. Make sure you wear gloves and wash the thing REAL well when you are done. Also lower your bow rail to really impove/update the look. It will take you a morning to do but it will make the boat look 10 years newer and also make the bow rail more functional.

Jon

Oh ya with that paint scheme they had stripes btwn the colors. I think that they were black with that paint scheme but any color could work. What you have done so far looks great.

Jon

I believe the stripe was black and rust separated by white.

Formulaproject, iho that gelcoat looks great! Save the money on the new paint and restore it. The saving will go a long way in contributing toward the interier needs.

Good luck.

We first washed the boat, then started rubbing ou with Race Glaze using a Snap-on buffer set at 1500 rpm. After we had rubbed the complete boat with the Race Glaze compound we polished with 3M Finesse-it finishing material at 2000 rpm. The key is to keep your buffing pads clean. Good luck