Wet Sanding for Dummies

[690LIPRIPPER]

Im the dummy, Wow lots of fantastic restoration going on here. My fiberglass trailor fenders have some rock chips and oxidation starting (98 Ranger 690). Will somebody please explain in detail all the steps required for wet sanding (do you guys use old fashioned elbow grease or a power buffer), What materials are required and tricks of the trade. It seems as though alot of people are doing this themselves, instead of professionals, and i thought i needed to try this. I just dont want to dive in to thisa head first cause it could be a costly mistake. I have pictures of the rock chips, but for the life of me i cant figure out how to post the pictures.

Thanks,

Mike

[IMG][http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z...204150725/IMG]






Modified by 690LIPRIPPER at 2:23 PM 2/27/2008

[perfect-storm]

The key to wet sanding is leaving as much material as possible. You must be very careful not to break through your existing gel coat which is not very thick.
For fade and oxidation, I recommend starting with 1500 wet paper followed up by 2000. Use a BACK AND FORTH motion, not circular. Do this by hand.
Follow that up with a high speed buffer, not an orbital. The best product I've used is made by 3M and it's called Finesse It finishing material. It's approximately a 2000 grit white liquid that will bring out that glasslike appearance to the surface when used at a rate to creat a little heat. Be careful not to burn through your gel coat......don't push to hard. Just let the machine and the material do the work.
Follow that up with a good polish or wax, whichever you prefer.

The chips will probably not come out and would need to be filled and repaired professionally if you are very picky. If not, just bring that finish back and enjoy.
You will need to protect the finish with either a wax or Bassboat saver very regularly. Every time out wouldn't hurt.

For light oxidation, you can skip the sanding all together and just buff as described followed by wax. The wet sanding is for fairly bad oxidation.

[BASSCAT7]

Perfect Storm is right...sand enough to get the oxidation off........Most of your chips look to be past the layer of clearcoat and into the colored gelcoat, like Storm said, you can sand down the oxidation and live with the chips.........or have them filled with matching gelcoat and then sanded down, that will cost a few $$$ to have them filled.

Harbor Freight has a cheap high speed sander :
http://www.harborfreight.com/c...92623

Here are some detailed instructions :

Most boats can be brought back to look new by doing the wetsanding/compounding/glazing/waxing at home for the costs of the products and a high speed sander if you do not own one...a lot of labor involved, but can save you big $$$$ over a re-clearcoat.

All the peripheral hardware should be removed from the boat, cleats, handrails, lights, windshields, decals, anything that can be unbolted from the top cap and consoles, etc will make the job easier....less obstructions when using the buffer.
You will need a high speed buffer, not an orbital buffer, the high speed produces the heat that makes the compound cut thru the faded clearcoat, you can use a cheap buffer, no need for an expensive model.

3M waffle polishing pads.....the white one for compounding/cutting and the black pad for glazing/polishing.

Wet Sandpaper in 1200/1500/and 2000 grit.

3M Perfect It Rubbing Compound # 05973
3M Final Glaze # 06066

Any hard Carnuba Marine Wax

1st step is to remove all the hardware you can.

Wash the boat, remove any tar, bugs , etc stuck on the glass.

2nd step is to wet sand with plenty of water, put a few drops of dishwashing liquid in the sanding water to make the paper slide easier, dunk the paper often to clean the sanded material off the paper.

Start with the 1200 grit, sand the whole area to be redone, rinse off with the hose, repeat with the 1500 grit, and rinse, then again with the 2000 grit....this is very labor intensive , may take you a few days to get thru LOL..., don't sand too hard in one spot, keep feeling the sanded area, if you feel any of the metalflake ( rough , grainy ) stop sanding on that area or you will sand too deep and expose the flakes.

When the sanding is done , wash the boat again to get the glass clean of particles, it will look dull but not faded.

3rd step is using the high speed buffer with the white 3M pad and the rubbing compound, do small areas and move the buffer slowly, not keeping it in one spot or it might burn the gel.
When done compounding wash off the compound and dry the boat.

4th step is using the black 3M pad on the high speed buffer and the 3M final glaze to put on a high gloss glaze coat.

By this time if their was not any actual gelcoat damage the clearcoat should look almost new again.
The final step is putting on a good coat of high carnuba paste wax....then keep the boat clean by wiping it down as soon as ti comes out of the water with one of the spray wipes like Bass Boat Saver..

Basscat7

[jaime7818]

Great detailed response. What if your boat has flaking? My gel coat is actually pealing off on some areas. It peels off to the actual flakes. So what would one do now? Thanks!

[690LIPRIPPER]

Thanks alot. Great step by step responses i was looking for. Yes the rock chips are kinda deep, some are down to the flake.

Mike

[98rangerdvs]

throw my 2 cents in I have found the correct color auto paint with flake in it and after cleaning my trailer really well and before waxing I have filled the big chips with a dab of marine tex, then when dry touched up the paint with auto paint then wax and u honestly can't see it unless you know where to look...cheaper than professional refinish and I figured since it is a trailer it will probably happen again..

[BASSCAT7]

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 98rangerdvs &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">throw my 2 cents in I have found the correct color auto paint with flake in it and after cleaning my trailer really well and before waxing I have filled the big chips with a dab of marine tex, then when dry touched up the paint with auto paint then wax and u honestly can't see it unless you know where to look...cheaper than professional refinish and I figured since it is a trailer it will probably happen again.. </TD></TR></TABLE>


Marine Tex and paint will work on a touch up like tiny chips ...............even quicker and cheaper is to find a Sharpie marker that is close to the color.......they make all kinds of colored sharpie markers now and if you can find a match it will not look that bad, especially on the trailer fenders.
I have used them to color in scratches in my dark blue metalflake striping. While not perfect they are not that visible to anyone other than me who knows where they are.
If you have a black hull a black sharpie works wonders on those annoying tiny scratches.

[clayshooter]

Hey BASSCAT7,
Nice info there!
We should have a sticky pin on this!!!
Thanks!
Ed