Is this gel coat too far gone?

[thawk21]

I was starting to wet sand my boat but I'm not seeing much progress. I got the roughness off but the original color is not coming through. What's the easiest way to tell if it is still oxidation or if already through the gel coat and I am down to the metal flake? I'll attach a picture for reference.

[rojoguio]

You've cut to the flake already. That is the silver flake. If you look where the decal was there is no silver. No clear gelcoat left.

[mxmike]

Hard to tell from the pic. After you wet sanded does it feel smooth? If you are into the flake you should be able to feel the roughness of the flake. If it is smooth, buff a spot with compound and see if the shine comes back.

[crank68]

As stated above it “could” be to the flake....also I have seen where the sun will turn the flake a different color and the boat will still sand and buff up nice it’ll just be a different color. I did a 1997 Javelin last year that was red around the box lids and kinda orange everywhere else. It sanded and buffed up great. It had just changed colors.

[SHOracer86]

My boat (90 Javelin) was in the same state. Rough gel coat, felt like 120 grit. I sanded down until the water turned from a brownish milky color to a milky color. Unfortunately to get thru all the oxidation it did get down to the flake and you can see this by the extra silver color. I compounded with 3M Finesse-It marine grade compound and a wool pad and finished with 3M Finesse-It polish and a foam pad. Overall it came out nice and like glass, but unfortunately more silver is showing. Its an older boat so I feel like its expected.

[rojoguio]

Just to add to this thread from my personal boat with the same problem. I was able to polish out to a fantastic shine looking down the hull but the shine would not stay. 6 months fishing, the sun just burned my handy work right back dull. It's kinda the same as polishing out the dull, yellow headlight covers on today's cars. If after polishing you do not topcoat with some kind of UV protection don't expect it to last. Pour water on it, if it looks better not much of the clear is left. Plastic will polish, aluminum will polish, it will shine but for how long? My boat is stored inside, if outside my motorhome when fishing it has a cover. It never sits outside without me fishing in it. It just won't keep a shine with use.

[woody7978]

you are into the flake. flake is colored on the outside and silver inside the only way to get the look like under the letters is to mix new flake in clear gel and respray then cover with more clear gel and cut and polish. no easy fix that's why no one wants to gelcoat repairs and end up painting. gel is labor and material expensive and you have to put in your time in the school of hard knocks to learn how its done.search around there is a ton of info here on the process.

[bigfoot17]

Pour water on it, if it looks better not much of the clear is left.

Is this a way to test how much clear coat you have left when you have this issue?

[crank68]

No

[woody7978]

The clear-coat is gone all that is left is pigmented flake in clear resin you can put the clear back, but you will just have clear over what you have faded red flake with silver edges, but it won't be rough!

[Radeleur]

Looks like mine. While I was able to get some shine but cutting and polishing. Upon an angled look it still looks like orange peel though feels smooth. I decided in my case that it was too far gone and am going to repair all the scratches and any gouges and regel mine. If you look you can find a solid color (white) gelcoat for about 65+ USD a gallon. Color is more. Additionally, a final coat additive so the gel will cure is needed. As for respraying the flake, from what I am learning it is definitely a skill. I am also changing the color of mine.

Solid color: coat - coat - coat plus additive
Flake color: sub color - flake with clear (2-3 coats) - 2 coats clear - clear with additive

I want a functional boat not a pretty reflective glitter. So in my case, I am changing from a polyflake boat to a solid color boat...partly because I can't just order the factory color anymore, but also, because solid colors are cheaper to repair if it needs it in the future.

[rojoguio]

The clear-coat is gone all that is left is pigmented flake in clear resin you can put the clear back, but you will just have clear over what you have faded red flake with silver edges

Clear is the first material sprayed into a prepped boat mold in the construction process. Clear Gelcoat is "Clear". All the color you see is the colored flake used in the boat's manufacturing process. Pigmented Gelcoat is applied behind the flake, etc. If you sand to the point your cutting the flake you have removed the clear to get there. Any transparent substance applied over what you have can give you an example of what is possible if re-cleared. Gelcoat that is structurally damaged by the sun will yellow first then become softer and easy to sand off. Boat owners in an attempt to resurrect their boat's finish by a "Cut & Polish" but in the "Cut" part of the process remove the Yellowed Gelcoat and cut the flake. Once your into the flake, your into the flake, the majority of the clear is gone. Again if you pour water on it the surface tension will cause the water to crown giving you a clear medium to view what your current finish condition is. I use "Distilled Water" so no contaminants are left on the surface that may create a problem later. If I don't like what I'm looking at after the "Water Test" I make a plan of action to produce an acceptable result. The real question you have to ask is "What is acceptable?". I fish 3 days a week in a beater looking bass boat. My electronics on the boat will rival the cost of the boat itself. It floats, it positions me to catch a lot of Crappie, it bounces off cypress trees well, it has no clear gelcoat build left. I'm restoring a replacement from the ground up now but will keep my Beater because it still works. Decide what level of finish is acceptable to you then make a plan to get there. I hope this helps.