Is buffing going to last or is it better to shoot clear

[ranger195]

Hey guys, I just buffed out the majority of my boat and it looks awesome. Ive got a few areas where i need to do some patches and shoot new flake on then clear. Because i'm going to be shooting a pretty good portion of one side of the boat I'm wondering if i shouldn't just shoot the whole top cap of it while im doing the patched areas. Here what i'm getting at and i don't know the answer. I've owned several new boats over the years and it sure seams like it took hardly any work to keep the finish as good as it is the first few years. Seams that after buffing out the finish and waxing just doesn't last as long. Is this my imagination or is it true? Would i get better and longer lasting shine if i put new coat of clear on?
Im going to work on the boat again today and ill upload pics to show the extent of damage ill be repairing.

[crank68]

Need pics to give you any advice....if your buffing and waxing isn’t lasting that means you’re not getting all the oxidation off.

[ranger195]

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[ranger195]

I cant tell Crank, are you able to see the pics i posted?IMG_5539.JPG

[ranger195]

Need pics to give you any advice....if your buffing and waxing isn’t lasting that means you’re not getting all the oxidation off.

IMG_5538.JPG

[ranger195]

Also Crank, how do you know you got all the oxidation off? Its baby butt smooth in the areas i tried it on.

[crank68]

Besides all the scratches that needs repair I don’t see anything that’s horrible as far as oxidation goes. With it outside in natural light it’s hard to tell. It’s hard to explain how to tell when you’ve gotten all the oxidation off....hard for me to explain. It’s a feel thing for me. You may have guys say all kinds of things to tell you when it’s all off ....? I’ll be glad to look at additional pics or vids if you need to send me any. I’ll try to help you if I can.

[ranger195]

So crank, as long as there is still get coat there should i be able to maintain it just like it was as new? Like i said earlier, it sure seams that the shine lasted without any type of maintenance like it seams i have to do now.

[crank68]

I would say I would maintain it more so than than a new one. You can’t put to much wax/Protec on it. IMO once the finish is damaged, faded, etc and you bring it back but it needs to stay out of the sun as much as possible and go overboard on the upkeep.

[ranger195]

Hey Crank i hope yoyu get the pictures i sent via email. As soon as i find a good way to attach to the post ill do that but i haven't had the best of luck so far.

Ok here is my game plan and please correct me if im off track. There are several pretty bad gouges that are down to the glass, I was planning to clean them up with dremmel tool, tape off and use bondo fiberglass resin jelly to get these spots up to pretty close to flush. sand to smooth, sand the entire top cap to ready to apply clear with flake mixed in to these areas and then apply 2 coats of clear over the whole area. The boat is 21,8 in length and i plan to do the the entire top cap from rub rail to the top with clear. On the scratches that don't require bondo could i sand to scuff it up a bit and use the ranger gel matched to the original color and apply it with a brush or tooth pick to kind fill in as smooth as possible and then apply clear over them?

So saying 22 foot long how far does a quart of gel coat go. I have no idea how much i need for each color. There are 4 colors of get coat, the 2 worst/biggest areas are platinum with silver flake and Black with with red mist flake @3% Considering buying a cheap harbor freight hvlp gun to spray it with as well as using a few Preval sprayers. suggestions on what I need for the spraying?


I seen online a guy who added wax to a 3rd coat of clear, is that something you would recommenced as well? Below rub rail isnt as bad but its going to need some work, same plan of attack for it.
Thanks for your help im sure im going to have a ton of questions along the way, and ill try to get some progress pics as it comes along

[crank68]

Got the pics....way to much to type and way to many ways to accomplish what you wanna do. Unless I’m missing something, I’d fix the scratches and sand and buff the rest. No way would I go through all the work spraying all the top cap. My opinion.

[ranger195]

And i appreciate your opinion, Im the rookie at this. The pics may not show it well enough but most of the scratches are deep enough that you can catch them with fingernail is why i figured they couldn't be sanded down. The boat was bouncing off of rip rap on the bank is how it got so beat up, we all know how sharp rip rap is and that why they are so deep.