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Please Help! Can't get rid of cloudyness in Gelcoat

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    Please Help! Can't get rid of cloudyness in Gelcoat

    I am trying to buff out some oxidation in the gelcoat on the transom of my 24V. The Gelcoat is black and I am having an impossible time with getting a perfect shine out of it. I can't seem to get a technique that consistently gives me great results. I have tried 3M perfect it #06085 and 3M Finesse it ll #35928. No matter what I do with the finesse it I can't get a perfect shine. I have tried all kinds of pads both wool and foam, slow RPM(600-700, medium RPM 900-1000 and higher RPM 1200-1500 polisher speed(rotary not orbital) and shorter working time stopping when there is still moisture in the compound and longer working time where I pretty well work the compound dry but careful to keep the buffer moving. The best result I was able to get but not able to reproduce is with the "Perfect it" product with a foam pad and I had to work it for a long time and pretty well dry and this gave me a pretty good shine. I am fairly inexperienced with machine polishing and I am afraid I am going to damage the gelcoat if I keep working it to try to get a good result. At this point I am experimenting and not making any progress. Any suggestions form someone that has had success buffing out a black gelcoat. I have even tried various speeds on a DA polisher with the finesse it on a area of the black gelcoat that was in perfect shape and it left a cloudy haze in the area that I polished. I am completely perplexed on what is going on and really frustrated and in need of guidance. I have done hours of research on the web and nothing seems to work.

    #2
    The oxidation may be deeper than what those products will cut. You may need to drop down to wet sanding and work back up to a polish and then wax. im not familiar with the perfect it, so i dont know if its more course or finer than the finesse. You definitely want a variable speed rotary and foam pad for this kind of work. Move to the wool for a polish and orbital for wax.
    Last edited by chpthril; 04-28-2016, 01:27 PM.
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      #3
      Check this old link out of a 22ve I had where the back black part was oxidized for the 22ve decal back. I used the hula products with a makita polisher and had great results. I did however notice that I had to keep that area waxed often or it would start to dull in appearance. Hula has many great videos on oxidation removal so check their site out. I thought my boat was bad and got lucky it cleaned up with simple products and elbow grease.

      As CHP said you may need to wet sand and that I have no clue of or would want to tackle on my own. Good luck

      http://www.tigeowners.com/forum/show...highlight=hula

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        #4
        Thought I would post up what I learned. Where I was going wrong is that I was not working the polish long enough. As you work the polish the abrasive breaks down and becomes progressively finer the longer you work a given area. If you stop too soon you will get the haze because you haven't broken down the abrasive enough. This is especially true with black gelcoat and other dark colors. I was told to work the polish until it is gone (unlike wax where you apply the wax and let it dry to a haze and then wipe off). You work the compound until there is nothing left to dry and wipe off. If you are not able to work it long enough you can add a small mist of water to the pad so that it extends the time it takes to dry and buff off. The end result was a perfect restoration of the gelcoat. The back of the boat looks like a mirror now and I am very happy!

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          #5
          Our first boat was a used Moomba. It had severe oxidation, when we bought it. Similar to JLG, I used a Makita rotary polisher with Hula products, and had the boat finish looking almost new, after working on it for a few weekends. Rough on my back, though.

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