90 Stratos 285 Gel Coat Restoration

[k2rider18]

I started out with the idea of wanting to restore my gelcoat that was heavily oxidized thanks to basscat7. So a month later in between work its about 80% complete. The only parts i have left is the interior. Give yall a rundown of what i had to do to get there.

Started with 1000 Grit, washed boat, then 1500 and repeated all the way to 2000. I went down to the local auto store and purchased meguires 2.0 cutting compound and a cutting pad. Washed the boat again dried it and worked the gel slowly with no pressure but what the tool was creating. I didnt use the 3m products only cause I didnt want to wait for shipping. Plus it fit the ol budjet and cost me 50 bucks between the pad, cutting compound, and sand paper. After that I just used regular old meguires gold class wax that I had sitting around to seal it.

Man this thing actually looks new....I was skeptical at best. Again my hats off to basscat7 and the whole BBC clan!!!!!

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Modified by k2rider18 at 1:16 PM 2/5/2012

[erienightrider]

look at that shine!!!!

[jkk]

That's what I'm talkin bout looks great.....Old boats rock!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Michael Stelly]

Nice job looks great

[Big Bass Man]

Looks great

[bassassn]

looks good!!!

[keefus]

[JohnnyO]

Very Nice work

[redline36]

Did the silver by the rub rail feel a bit gritty before you sanded? I have exactly the same color combo and I want to do the same but I was afraid there was nothing left to sand.

[jameson93]

awesome job man! love the burgandy flake , do you have any before pictures?

[k2rider18]

yes i do have some before photos just gotta find em...will post them soon...

[sarmst100]

Good Job!! I had a 1990 285 once.

[k2rider18]

<table width="90%" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 align=center><tr><td>Quote, originally posted by redline36 &raquo;</td></tr><tr><td class="quote">Did the silver by the rub rail feel a bit gritty before you sanded? I have exactly the same color combo and I want to do the same but I was afraid there was nothing left to sand.</td></tr></table>

The best thing I recommend is to follow basscat7 post pinned at the top of the restoration page. As for your question yes, it was oxidized to the point that it felt rough. And when u wet sand it you can actually smell the gel coat when working it. Like I said just follow basscat7.

[k2rider18]

Is there any reason that the oxidation would come back like this?IMG_20130504_084625_356.jpg


Regradless, I went to the auto parts store and picked up more wet/dry sand paper. I did the top cap three times with 800 grit, two times with 1500 grit and used the meguires 2.0 cutting compound with the wool cutting pad three rounds on the top cap. For some reason the wool cutting pad worked a heck of a lot better than the regular cutting pad. I dont want this to come back again, as it took about 8 straight hours to get to this point. Should I use the rubbing compound and then carnuba wax or just lay the carnuba wax? Dont mind the motor paint or carpet missing, that is in work as well!

[k2rider18]

Here's the other two pics just after running the cutting compound three times on the top cap

IMG_20130504_130142_169.jpgIMG_20130504_130148_859.jpg