My 2000 Cobra Lost Her Glitter......

and I want it back! It appears my top cap has begun to fade. I bought some new CF numbers and after I put them on I took the old one's off, which were on the top cap, and I can see the outline where they once were. I also get hard water spots almost instantly when water hits it. I tried rubbing compound but that did not work. I heard of folks wet sanding their boat and even saw the pictures and it looked pretty good, but is this my only resort? It seems like a lot of hard work and I guess I am looking for a "Magical Spray" or something if one exists; BBS is good but not for this. Also, I took the stickers off my engine cowling and have the same issue as with the old CF numbers, I guess the paint has faded on this as well. If anyone has any suggestions to include wet sanding please respond so I can get her looking good again. Thanks.
Dwayne

Well, you can have your top cap clear gel-coat re-sprayed with new clear gel, but that is going to be expensive. Don't know how much, but I'd expect $1000 to $2000 range.

Wet sanding removes the burnt/cloudy clear gel coat from the surface, but that is only the first step in the process. After wet sanding, one will need to refinish the fresh new surface by using buffing & polishing compounds. Plus the clear gel coat is real thin,. so sanding it is kind of tricky, if you go too far, you're screwed...


My old boat had this problem, and I tried a lot of products. As far as magic stuff in a can, the best I found was Pro-Tec Nu-Paint Moisturizer followed by a coat of Pro-Tec Sealant/Polish. If your boat is not too badly oxidized, this may help.
http://www.protecproducts.com

There is also some new do-it-yourself clear gelcoat product I've heard of, but no experience with it. Maybe someone else knows about it.

Ouch, $2000.00. Thanks for the info Alan.

Good luck I know it will take alot of work. But once you get it done you need to wax it more ofeten I wax my every 3 months except the winter cause im not using it that much. But you should post this in the boat restoration forum those guys are gini's when it comes to this stuff

I believe that when Cleveland reads this post she has a way of making it shine like new....but no promises.

Well, I read the post earlier today and Alan is right. The clear isn't "that" thin though. There is enough there to sand. If it were my boat I'd wet sand only the affected area with 1000 grit, then 2000 grit then buff it out to a shine. Only I'd buff the whole entire cap so it would all shine the same. It really is a pretty simple job......but then again, I've done it a couple hundred times. http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/ohwell.gif If you know how to use a buffer real well, you can get rid of the water spots with a little elbow grease......You need to wax it more often and wipe the boat down when you come off of the lake. http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/wink.gif

Thanks everyone for the replies. Is there a certain type of sand paper or will any 1000/2000 grit work? Also, can I use this on my cowling?

Checkout the restoration pages. http://xs-s.com/zf/images/smile/emthup.gif

I did a 3' section of the top cap to remove some deep scratches that were caused by sliding an ice chest on the boat. I cringed when I saw the guy I was rescuing do it. http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/crying.gif Some people just don't get it. http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/ohwell.gif

Anyhow, I invested in a Sears buffer and went to it. I wet sanded using only the 2000 grit paper. Keeping it wet, I sanded in a fore/aft motion. Then rinsed and used the polishing wheel w/ 3M rubbing compound. Followed that up w/ Meguiar's Carnuba #26. It's back to looking like glass! http://xs-s.com/zf/images/smile/emthup.gif

i got a bottle of gel coat rejuvenator by protech..i worked good on my boat..i take 30.00 for it

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by moose288 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i got a bottle of gel coat rejuvenator by protech..i worked good on my boat..i take 30.00 for it</TD></TR></TABLE>

Moose, Sent an IM if Dwayne passes.

Grab it up Miguel and thanks for the offer Moose. I believe I will do the wet sanding and buffing.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Dwayne &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Grab it up Miguel and thanks for the offer Moose. I believe I will do the wet sanding and buffing.</TD></TR></TABLE>

One more thing, Dwayne. Try not to apply excessive pressure when wet sanding. Even while using the 2000 grit, it seems to remove a lot of oxidation. Post before and after pics if you can. Good luck! http://www.bassboatcentral.com/boardstuff2/beers.gif