Gel Coat Restoration

paragonfl2@aol.com

Restoring a vintage fiberglass boat is an ongoing, time consuming, and never ending
project. If you want to truly maintain the character and charm of that old boat, then
consider refurbishing the original gel coat rather than repainting. It is a tedious and
labor intensive process but has great rewards!

The following is a well known and proven method for restoring the gel coat on your
old boat. It came to me via Mark Mullen on the MFG Boats web site.

The first thing is to get a good idea of the true condition of the gel coat. You will need
to do this regardless of your decision to restore, re-gel or paint.

Completely remove all hardware, windshield, deck cleats, etc.
Start by throughly cleaning the surface with liberal amounts of Comet, Barkeepers Friend,
or any other kind of cleanser. You will need several good green 'scrubby' pads.
Keep the surface wet and scour the finish with the green pad. It helps to have some tooth
brushes and fingernail brushes handy for getting in to all the nooks and crevices.

After several scrub downs and washing with dish washing soap, you will be left with a dull
matte (but clean) surface. This procedure will get rid of the oxidation, grime and tree sap.

If you have a few chips and stress cracks, you need not be too concerned. Now pick out the worst spot and rub in a few coats of paste wax. If you come up with a moderate shine you are good to continue. This is the time for your evaluation. If you feel that a much better shine (10 times better) on that old gel coat will be all you desire, then go ahead with the following steps.
If you are not seeing a good shine, you can make the decision to paint or redo the gel coat as you choose.

You will need a two speed polisher and a good bowl type lambswool bonnet. You can save money
on an inexpensive polisher, but be sure and buy a high quality bonnet.

Again you will want to keep the surface wet, so do this outside or drape your work area
to protect against drips and sling off. This is a very messy procedure, but you waste energy
in trying to keep it 'neat'.

Buff the entire boat twice with red polishing compound. I like Turtle products for this, but
any brand will do. You will see a cleaner surface with little or no shine.

Now buff out twice with the white compound. You need your polisher on low speed for
both the red and white compounds. This should leave a very smooth and clean surface,
again with little shine. Just consistent color throughout. Be sure and remove all the compound as it will degrade the wax if left on. Use the brushes to get into crevices and any spider cracks you may have.

Wash the bonnet out after each application and be sure and keep the material wet at all times.

Now, for the fun part! I prefer pure carnuba waxes, but this is a matter of personal preference. The McGuire's line of products go on and come off easily and leave a clean, sparkly shine in my opinion. Buff in two coats of wax at low speed being sure to cover all sections
thoroughly. Buff this out until you have a very uniform and moderately shiny surface.
Next, move that polisher up to high speed and burnish two or three coats in. Clean well
between each application of wax. You can buff in all the coats you desire and at this point
it will become cleaner and shiner with every application.

The final product will be a clean crisp gel coat that is easy to maintain and will make your
boat stand out in any crowd.

Keep some spray type wax on hand for weekly cleaning and buff in more wax at least
twice a year. The old gel will absorb this wax and become richer and sharper with each
application.

Enjoy!