Faded Hull Paint Restoration

What are my options for making a 20 year old boat look bold and shiny again? I found a 1982 Hobie 18 in great shape, besides fading paint.

Can the faded paint be polished or cleaned up?

Can the pinstripes easily be removed?

Or is repainting the only option.

Are u sure the hulls are painted and not original gelcoat? Usualy the gelcoat will fade faster that any paint coating as gelcoat is softer and pourus.
Paint can be polished but being a thinner coatiing it may not have enough material, and recoating could be the best option.
Gelcoat is thicker and is best when wanting to restore its finish by polish. However paint is easier to work with and with todays coatings much shinnier.
If u can post pics it would be much easier to determine what to do!

Alex

i also have an 82 h18 removing the stripes took a very patient hand with a very sharp razor blade. and then the hulls took many hours of a polishing disk on a drill with many types of cutting compounds and i still have not gotten them to where i am happy. i am planning on trying a new product recommended on this site made by 3m called perfectit 3 i believe. and from what was posted it is a heavy duty cutter that as it works turns into a polish. heard it has given great results. good luck on the restore and happy sailing i would only trade my hobie for a better ice fishing shack than i already have, and thats not gonna happen heheheh. ... paul

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paul
1981 Hobie 18 "Knot A Clew" sail #5445

Oxidation of gelcoat results in pits. If you only deep clean the oxidized surface you'll notice after a few sails that new dirt quickly fills these pits. A cutting compound or polish will fill these pits as well, resulting in a 'half baked" look.

What I have found with well oxidized older boats is as stated you can spend a lot of time and money with compounds and polishes. My best time spent was with sand paper. Wet sanding in opposite directions and progressing through finer grits. Buy a nice sanding block and spend those hours wetsanding through however fine a grit you want (use the palm of your palm hand for the final couple of wetsands to get all depressions), buff with rubbing compound, then wax or use a protectant.

The adhesive from old decals can be removed by applying acetone liberally. Let "soak" for one to two minutes and rub with circular motions. Most of it will ball up on to your cloth.

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hobiejohn at earthlink dot net
Fleet 297

Here are some pictures of the boat. Does it look like it can be cleaned up and the pinstriping easily removed?

Any advice on making this look good will be appreciated.

The yellow finish is original gelcoat from when the hulls where molded at factory and the stripes are vinyl stickers.
My suggestion is to remove the stripes with some spray lube (wd40) or goof-of and a razor mounted on a scraper. If for some reason the stripes are paintes just sand then down.
Then polish the hulls with a 7" polish wheel (foam wheel) and rubbing compound, then wax by hand. From what I see the hulls will shine like new again by polishing, I even see some shine at the insides of the hulls!

goog luck, with that nice boat....
great to know people are fixing before floating...thats what I always do...get it all top shape, spend the money and sweat it, and then enjoy my work on the water.

Those are factory stripes. Peel/scrape off best you can and then use acetone for the glue.

Yellow is one of the worst colors for oxidation, it will take some elbow grease. You may not get the decks back to that original lustre, especially the non-skid areas.

Looks like a nice boat that has sat for some time. Did you check the decks for soft spots?

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hobiejohn at earthlink dot net
Fleet 297

Having done this several times, here's my recommendations:

DO NOT use a razor blade to remove the stripes. You'll scratch the gel coat. Use a heat gun (very carefully) to soften the vinyl and use a plastic scraper. Acetone will remove the final bits of glue and vinyl. I use a heat gun made for the shrink coverings on model airplanes - it's $23 available here: http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXJD39&P=ML. It doesn't get as hot as a paint stripper, but it's a lot hotter than a hair dryer.

For the ultimate finish, flip the boat upside down and fill all the scratches in the bottom with polyester filler (Formula 27). It's a grayish-white, but since these are on the bottom, you probably won't see them. Sand the hulls with progressive grits of wet-or-dry sandpaper (wet) 320-400-600-800-1000 (the higher/finer grits are available at auto parts stores).

Using an angle buffer (also available at auto parts stores), go over the entire boat with 3M Heavy Duty Rubbing Compound. Wipe off all the residue, then go over the whole boat with 3M Finesse-it II and the angle buffer. By now, you'll be seeing your reflection in the finish. A couple of coats of 3M Boat Wax will seal the gel coat and prevent it from absorbing stains from the water.

Depending on how deep the fading goes, you may or may not bring back the original color. And of course, this will not work on the non-skid (I usually tape off the non-skid to prevent damage). If you want a painted finish, use a one-part polyurethane rolled and tipped out with a brush after the 1000 grit sanding.