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PostPosted: Tue Aug 25, 2009 10:04 am 
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Joined: Sat May 10, 2008 8:15 pm
Posts: 436
Location: Washington DC/Chesapeake Bay
Hey folks, excellent forum.

I removed the original faded/cracking multicolored decal strips with a heat gun, Goof Off and a scraper with excellent results.

Now I'm left with what was underneath, a stripe of full, original color in the fiberglass that was covered all these years. By itself it looks great but next to the faded/oxidized hulls it's a little odd.

I plan to use 3M Marine Cleaner and Wax to remove the oxidation, and hopefully return at least some of the color, but I seriously doubt it will be enough to blend in with the original color left after removing the decal.

Any ideas? The 3M product I have is the less aggressive of another they make, just wanted to start off there first. Would using the more aggressive one get me closer to the original color? Is there another product or technique that's better for this?

THANKS in advance! :wink:

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'81 H16

If it ain't a blowin', I ain't a goin'


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PostPosted: Tue Aug 25, 2009 3:33 pm 
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To buff the oxidized "sun burned" gelcoat to a "new" look is going to be next to impossible. I'd hate to hear you worked your @$$ off for days on end, only to still have the color difference. Have you thought about putting on new graphics? It sounds like you're on the right track with the 3M compound. Is it called "Super Duty Rubbing compound" by chance? It's a dark tan / chocolate milkshake looking material. Most likely you'll find after buffing the daylights out of the gelcoat the color doesn't change, but it should be nice and shiny. A word of caution ...in your goal of evening the colors out, be careful not to buff off too much gelcoat. Doing this will bring up the dark colors of the fiberglass beneath it. Good luck with this, let us know how it turns out.


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PostPosted: Wed Aug 26, 2009 1:15 am 
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Location: Washington DC/Chesapeake Bay
Hey Thanks Rick!

Hadn't thought about putting on new graphics, didn't know they were available. The 3M product does NOT say "Super Duty Rubbing compound," and the rep at West Marine said it is the least aggressive he's got and I agreed with him that I should start there and work into more aggressive compounds.

When I tested it by hand it did a surprisingly good job of removing the oxidation and returning a fair amount of color, so much so I was really motivated to get started using a power buffer. Then after about 2 weeks I noticed the test area had already started to look faded again (still haven't done the power buffer).

Do you have a source for the original decals? It might be nice to restore to "stock." I should be able to do the power buffing this weekend and I'll post the results.

Thanks again!

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If it ain't a blowin', I ain't a goin'


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PostPosted: Wed Aug 26, 2009 12:42 pm 
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For replacement graphics / decals I'd send you to Matt Miller first to see what the factory might have. Next idea would be to go to a auto parts store to see what they might have. You could always have some custom ones made, but it wouldn't be cheap.


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PostPosted: Thu Aug 27, 2009 5:20 am 
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I just re did the hulls on my 1981 Hobie 16. I can tell you that the best job was done by a person who worked full time at an auto body shop and the bottle of stuff he used cost me $35 and he hit it hard with a buffer that turned about seven thousand RPM's. Even after that, it still didnt look like you are going to want it to look so I ordered some paint and just repainted the hulls in my front yard on a Saturday and Sunday morning at about six in the morning. Three coats and it looks so good it's not even funny. When I did my graphics I went to a local sign shop that works with vinyl. If you have pictures of the original they can use a progaram (if they have it) that can copy the photo and then they can plot the old pattern onto new vinyl in the original color or whatever color you want. They did a nice set of stripes, my CF nunbers and then made up the name for me. (JOHNNY"S CAT) They did this in two different collars of blue to really kick ass against the white paint job. When it's all done, they measure stuff and then they just peel and stick. It turned out REALLY GREAT and they charged me $200.

John Yaeck

[email protected]


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PostPosted: Tue Sep 15, 2009 6:50 pm 
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Looks like this thread is pretty much dead, but just a word.....
Wet sanding with 600 grit wet/dry paper and a couple of coats of Penetrol can work wonders with faded gelcoat. The penetrol brings out alot of the original color. Not as good as new, but cheaper and easier than repeated buffing, only to decide to paint. just my 2 cents.....


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PostPosted: Thu Aug 05, 2010 9:52 pm 
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Use the Poliglow system. http://www.poliglow-int.com Great solution for wasted gelcoat. Not a wax.
Worked great on my 83 H16 and my 79 H16 (the 79 was a real wreck). Fading wont be cured, but you will get what color is there back and you will get a nice gloss finish. Really fantastic.

We used auto pinstriping to bring back the stripes on my 79 boat to look almost identical to new. (It's a 79 Keoke boat that had three chocolate stripes). Easy to add the stripes, we just laid them on top of the raised gelcoat that was protected by the old stripes. I used a powerwasher to blast off the old decals, and some hand work to get off small bits. Working slowly with a powerwasher we were able to blast off most of the decals (badly chewed up over the years and looked awful). Hope this helps. Photos of my 79 are in another post on this site about Keoke restoration.

RPDealer


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PostPosted: Fri Aug 06, 2010 10:19 am 
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Location: Lake Norman NC
Nothing like poly glow NOTHING


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