Sanding time?

[Cobra_190]

I started wet sanding the cap of my boat this past week and started with 1200 and sanded for HOURS, some areas did clear up alot, but the back corners and the front by the trolling motor are not even beginning to clear up. Do these areas have thicker gel coat? Also while sanding in some areas, I noticed some pieces of what looked liked "dry skin after a sunburn" coming off the boat, is this normal? Did I sand to deep? I don't feel any metal flake. And can I go up to like 600 or 800 grit paper for the back and front?

[kf4pfw]

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Cobra_190 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I started wet sanding the cap of my boat this past week and started with 1200 and sanded for HOURS, some areas did clear up alot, but the back corners and the front by the trolling motor are not even beginning to clear up. Do these areas have thicker gel coat? Also while sanding in some areas, I noticed some pieces of what looked liked "dry skin after a sunburn" coming off the boat, is this normal? Did I sand to deep? I don't feel any metal flake. And can I go up to like 600 or 800 grit paper for the back and front? </TD></TR></TABLE>

The HIGHER the number, the SMOOTHER the sandpaper! Going "up to 600 or 800" will undo the good work!

[jm35475]

dude, stop sanding on ur boat!if u have to sand deep to get to the affected area that means the problems are coming out from the bottom and not down from the top.so in a nutshell if ur discoloration is down in the gelcoat ur never gonna get it out without sanding all ur gelcoat away,and from the sounds of it -skin peels ur problems are deep.i would contact the manufacturer about doing a repaint if it is indeed that bad.polishing is normally all that is neccessary to remove haze and bring back clarity and shine. try this- take a rag pour rubbing alcohol on it then wipe over the affected area, while it is wet the haze should disappear until the alcohol dries it will come back. if this is the case all you need to do is buff the shine back, then pile the wax on.i had a boat like this with white hazy spots on the top deck ,as long as the wax was fresh they would dissappear then come back every couple of months and iwould rewax. let me know. jm35475@bellsouth.net or service one paint repair ,i do spot repairs on cars and boats if ur affected areas are small in proportion to the entire topcap i might can help.reclearing the whole topcap is a big job but doable, the hull is a different story 205 3307836