More questions about about wet sanding and restoration...

[CrappieChaser]

Thanks Rollo for your help on the finishing polish. Just curious, what is the Finesse-It paste that comes in the gallon can used for?

I have 2 more questions if anyone could please help me out with:

1. Last night, I hit a spot on my boat with 1000 grit to just to try my hand at this wet-sanding thing. After the 1000, I hit it with 2000 then used Meguires Diamond Cutter and then a finishing polish used on cars. I was real pleased with the results with one exception. I bought this boat about a year ago from a guy who wet sanded a spot about as big as my fist on the side of the boat just to show me the potential of the boat. Well, the spot I did last night was right beside the spot that he did. Both jobs looked great but his looked better and the gel coat where he sanded was brighter and had a much deeper shine. My guess is that he used a coarser grit sandpaper. Is 1000 as low as I should go or could I try 800 or 600. I hate it that the spot he did is different from what I did.

2. The boat I'm working on is a 1992 Stratos 285 ProXL. It has the rails on top of sides like a lot of the Rangers do and so forth. I would like to remove them while I am sanding so I can get the entire area and b/c with the rails on, I could not get the buffer underneath the rail. Am I going to strip out the holes in the fiberglass if I take them off and put them back on again?

3. One more question I just thought of! Sanding in the cracks and crevices and tight places is not that tough. The tough part is getting the buffer in those places. Do I even need to spend the time sanding all the nooks and crannies or is there an alternative to applying the big buffer to those areas to remove the scratches?

Thanks for all the advice and I can't wait to finish this thing and post the pictures. I sanded and polished last night for about 30 minutes and the results just floored me. Those DeWalt rotary buffers get the job done!

[North Texas Fiberglass]

I wouldn't go any less than 1000 Grit. You can do 1000, 1500, then 2000 if you really want to get into it.

We use 3M's mold compound as our course compound, then you can go to a finer compound sunch as micro finish. Use a 3M super buffing bonnet, and an adjustable speed sander/polisher. Use the compound at a fairly low setting so 1) you don't sling all the compound off, and 2) the low speed will allow the compound to cut in more. As you cut the sandpaper scratches out, start raising the speed of the buffer, and polish it. Then repeat with a finer grit compound.

Caution: you only have a certain amount of clear gelcote left on your boat. Becareful when sanding. You are actually taking off some of the gelcote, then buffing it back out.

You can finish it with the compound you started with in your first post, but you shouldn't necessarly have to.

Good luck, I know how much elbow greese you are going to need to do your whole boat!