Hi guys. I bought a 1986 Skeeter Starfire last year and now finally have time to make it look nice. It has oxidation on the gel coat but the gel is turning out nice. It is a ton of work but I think it is going to look awesome when done. I bought a variable speed polisher at Harbor Freight which is working great but the buffing pads I bought their suck. My question is what pads do you recommend and where can I buy then. I am only getting about 3-4 ft of hull polished before the pads start turning black and useless. Is this normal? At the current rate I will be spending $90 on pads. Any suggestions?

I'll post pictures when I am finished.

I'm about to do the same thing. What kind of polish etc are you using?

I am starting with 3M rubbing compound for heavily oxidated gel coat. Then using 3M liquid wax. I bought them at Academy.

Always have good luck with lake country pads

use some mineral spirits with the rubbing compound, will keep it from drying out so fast and you should get a lot more use out of a pad.
black is normal

Good idea, do I soak the pads or just dab some on them and work it into the padding? Some of the compound got burnt into the gel, will the mineral spirits take that out as well?

I have a pad made by Mother's called micro fiber and Mc guire's polish. I bought my micro fiber pad from their online store but auto supply stores may have them now.

get the pad moist with it, and put a few drops on as you go, keep the compound wet is the goal. if it dries out it will burn.

you will have to go back over the burned spots slowly and see if you can get it out.

The 3M pads are the best I have ever used. There are 2 one for compound and one for polish. The 3M aqua fina is an amazing finishing polish (or compound) then wax or seal. I'm in the process of doing mine now. I'm doing a complete face lift my problem is getting a new bench seat with soft ride bottoms. Anyone know a custom seat maker SKEETER wants 1500.00 for for the new bench no bug.

Good info, thanks for posting

Check bassboatseats.com It may not be custom like you are looking for but it's worth a look.

Where can I find the 3M pads? Can you find them in packs of 5 or 10?

Best thing to do is take a screwdriver and turn the buffer on and press the screwdriver into the pad. This will clean out the wax buildup in the pad. You can also wash the pads in the washing machine or by hand in a bucket with some laundry soap. There is a tool for cleaning the pads but a screwdriver works fine. Also before you start buffing use some hull cleaner(acid) to get all the scum and hard water stains off.

Bisquits, you can get the pads at any automotive paint supply store. They are not cheap so you might not want to buy 10 of them.

Hey Biscuits, I took you're advice, went to Academy and got the Heavy Oxidation Remover and Wax all in one. I mst admit it did a great job and really didn't take all that long. Took about 3 hours with a power buffer.