Help with scratches

[ace of blades]

This may be covered elsewhere, but I am new to the site, so I apologize in advance. Heres what I want to know: I just bought my first bass boat, a 1997 Skeeter zx202c with 200 Yamaha. The boat has a lot of scratches, some deeper than others. There are a lot of scratches that I think will come out, but I am not sure how to do it. They are located on the metal flake, seem like the type of clear coat scratches that you would find on a vehicle that wax out. They look more like scuff scratches. Is there anyway or anything that will take them out?

[tireguy]

on the light ones i use Brasso and it seems to work good !!

[BASSCAT7]

Elbow Grease and rubbing compound will take scuff marks and light scratches out of the gel.

[ace of blades]

Is the brasso a long term solution, or just a quick shor term cover up? And about the rubbing compound, will it hurt the gel coat and is it a long term solution? And, do I need to do something after rubbing with the compound? Thanks guys for the help.

[BASSCAT7]

Compound will not hurt the gelcoat, it will take out all the scuff marks and light scratches that are not deep down into the gelcoat itself. After compounding all you need to do is wax.

Brasso is a very light metal polish that will do the same for light scratches, both are long term fixes as they will buff out light marks in the gel with enough rubbing.

[ace of blades]

Is there any particluar brand you suggest? Also, what wax should I use and where can I get this stuff. I know Walmart carries Turtle wax rubbing compound and polish. Will that work? Thanks.

[ace of blades]

And to make sure I understand correctly, I just rub till they come out, right? Is there such a thing as rubbing too hard or for too long? And do I rub in a circular motion, or just rub up and down the scratch? Thanks.

[BASSCAT7]

Read this post and you'll get a better idea.

http://www.bbcboards.net/zerothread/311487

Rubbing by hand you'll have a hard time doing any damage to the gelcoat.

For scuff marks they should rub right out, any deeper scratches you might want to invest in a buffer, if you plan on doing the entire hull.

[ace of blades]

I have one more question while I have you. On the top cap, there is a grey and red metal flake stripe, 4-6 inches wide (where the decals are) that runs around the entire boat. It has completely lost its shine, unlike the hull. There is flaking on this top cap, a sort of clear coat (maybe gel coat?). You can easily scratch it off. Is this common and is it a manufacturers finish? I would like to restore the shiny coat back to it. I read alot on how to fix things but not sure what to use on this. Thanks.

[BASSCAT7]

Hard to say without pictures of the hull.