I picked up a 91 Ranger and the gellcoat is gone. (I have wet sanded these befor and then buffed out with hightspeed buffer.)would like to find another way. My quistion is this, has anyone used clear coat. and preping it to go on smoth? Any other sujestions are welcome. Thanks Fishman

Best to re-spray with clear gellcoat. Will look like it had a bad sunburn in a couple of years with automotive type clearcoat. Lots of work just getting ready http://www.fibreglast.com has everything needed. Good Luck

Do not put poly urathane clear coat on the boat. Boats are made with poly ester based gelcote. The automotive type of clear is based on poly urathane. Urathane and poly ester are not compatible at all. As Gary said, after two years, the urathane clear will start to lift and peel off. It will look worse than it does not.

If you try to use clear gelcote, you need to completely reflake the boat, then put new clear gelcote on the flake.

If you just try to put new clear gelcote on the old gelcote, the oxidation that is remaining in the old gelcote will spread from the inside back up through the new gelcote, and make it milky again.

It is very time consuming and very expensive to have a shop redo the topcap of an older boat.

Thanks for the feed back Gary and Michael, Is there a product out there to bring the luster back. I was using armerall to clean up the black molding, and got some on the boat, WOW did it look great. So I have been looking for somthing that will last. came across Vertaglas Gelcoat Restoration System. What is your thoughts Mike. Thanks Fishman

You might want to investigate Vertglass........several TFFers have reported good results restoring older boats with this product.
http://www.marinestore.com/vertglas-images.html?cart=323330477440826

However it is not a permanent solution. Depending on how much it is left out in the sun, you will need to reapply periodically...however the process is very simple.

This is some good info here! I was actually getting ready to re-clear my boat with automotive clear.
This Boat

I guess I better regear and get the right stuff.

Boatman Thanks for the input, I was checking this stuff out and wonderd if anyone had used it. How long dose it last and is it like a wax or more like a urathane? Fishman

Hay rdrashear That looks like the first boat I had it was a blue and silver one with a 115 yamy. I wet sanded that one and hight speed buffed it to a new shine. kept it for 3 years and it looked great when I got rid of it. good luck. Fishman

From the website I gather most of the "season" and the more coats you put on the longer the shine. How to and application method is shown on the web site for Vertglass.

Probably have to reapply every 3-6 months I would guess........longer if the boat has covered storage.

Yeah, I wish that would do the trick, but I'm afraid it is down to the metal flake in most spots. In fact, rubbing it gets the little sparklies on ya. I gotta recoat it with something more permanent.

If you are down to the poly flake, you are going to ruin it when you sand it to prep for the new finish. You have to sand it with at least 400 grit paper, and if you sand on the metal flake directly, it turns silver.

So I wouldn't even worry about it. Enjoy the boat as it is, because you are headed to a complete money pit otherwise.

Good advise from Michael -
On the Vertglass, I have used it and its good, but you have to remember, what ever is on your boat, will show through the Vertglass, so it needs to be in good shape before you apply..It comes with some stuff to help get rid of the oxidation, but still takes some work..also ,once on, its a bear to get off ,if you have a bad spot-- I DID..Still DO...

Michael: I hear what your saying, but if it made it better for a few years, I'd be happy.

Since I'm down to the flake on some of it, would it work to wipe over it with a damp rag (acetone) to prep the surface in lieu of sanding? Or is this a total waste?

No,

The only way the new material is going to "stick" is through abrasion. Cleaning it with acetone will clean the surface alright, however there will not be any abrasion for the new material to get a grip on.

If you use anything higher than 400, it will simply start to peal off. You can get away with 320 on clear, but don't go any rougher. If you are using standard colored gelcote, you can spray on 80 grit as long as you get enough material on the boat.

One you get the gelcote on the boat (clear gelcote too), you have to sand the orange peel off with 400 grit, then use 600 to cut the 400 grit scratches out, then use 800 to cut the 600 grit scratches out, then you can use a heavy compound to polish the 800 grit scratches away.

So once you spray the gelcote, you have to sand the entire boat at least 3 more times, then buff the remaining scratches out. That is where all your labor is going to be spent on.

To give you an idea, most boats are around 80 hrs labor for the top cap. That is from the rub rail up for us to do. At $80/hr, that is $6400 plus matierals. Average cost for us to do a top cap is about $7500.00 plus tax.

So if you have lots of spare time, and have the know how, you can do it. But it is a VERY big job to undertake a complete refinish.

Ok, here is my opinion on oxidation:

There is no magic cure for ozidation. It is the deteriation of the existing gelcote on the boat. It starts on the surface, and works it through the gelcote.

Remember the cars and trucks up to the late 80's that used a single stage paint. if you buffed a red car, your rag would turn red? Well gelcote is the same in principle.

Each time you buff and polish the boat, you are taking off a micro layer on the top surface. You can only do it so many times before you run out of material.

Clear Gelcote is worst since it doesn't have any UV protectors it in. If it did, it would cause the clear to "cloud" up. The only protection it gets is from the wax people put on it. Most people only wax their boats in the spring. It needs to be done every 60 days!

So the oxidation is like cancer and eats down into the gelcote. The longer the oxidation is on the boat, the worse it gets, and the milkier it makes the boat look.

The ONLY way to remove it, is by sanding the top surface with 800-1000 grit sandpaper, then buffing it. If you do not get all the oxidation off the top of the gelcote, it will come back!

So let's say the gelcote is 1/16 of an inch think. The oxidation is down 10% of the thickness of the gelcote. You must sand at least 11-12% of the gelcote off the boat to get past it. Even if you sand it, buff and wax it, it will look great. But the cancer is still there if you didn't go past that 10%. If you only sanded 8% of the gelcote off, the cancer will come back in 2-3 months.

When we have someone bring in the boat, we tell them we will sand and buff a "sample" area BEFORE we do the job. We then tell them to bring the boat back to us in 3-4 months. We don't charge for the sample area since we want to see if it will work. Once we see that the gelcote will stay like it is supposed to, we then will proceed forward with the rest of the boat.

I would rather do a free sample area, then charge someone for a job that looks great leaving the shop. But 3-4 months later, looks like carp. That way if the gelcote turns back, the customer is mad at the boat. If we charge them to do the job and then it goes back to the way it was, they would be upset for us for taking their money for nothing. I don't like having upset customers.

Remember, there is no miracle cure for oxidation. Elbow grease is the only true cure. If there was something that could be wiped on, and wiped off, I would be making a fortune charging someone $450-$600, and then just wiping off the oxidation and then waxing it.