Or just use the Meguiar's Oxidation Removal Kit ($27.74 @ ADS) like I did.

 

[QUOTE=bhensley]The heavily oxidized areas can be wet sanded out and buffed and will hold if done right. When buffing out use 3M rubbing compounds. Start with the heavy grit. finessit II, hand glaze then wax. I am a fiberglass/gel tech and will tell you it can be done and will hold if done right. It takes more that a quick buff, which will not hold more than a few weeks. The easy jobs I would let my crew work on but the ones like yours I would do myself as it can be a pain but I do get it done. As much as I like the extra cash a full job will bring in, when I get jobs like this and fix them with out a re-spray my customers notice and always come back to me for their work. Like I said above, if you have any questions you can email me and I can help walk you through it if your up to the task.
QUOTE]

Not to bash anybody, but I'd have to question your definition of "it will hold." I've been in the marine business for over 25 years and nobody's been able to meet my definition yet. That would be that after whatever surface restoration process you use, the gel will look as good and last as long as brand new gelcoat with the same protection. I've seen some absolutely incredible gel restoration work by a number of folks who have worked for us over the years. Give it a month or two in the sun without constant attention and it's right back to chalk though. If you have found a way to do it, good on ya!

 

[QUOTE=2stroked]No offense taken. But yes, with the right materials and the patience it can be done. The last one I did that was this bad was a 20 year old Regal valanti. The original gel was on the boat and was dark blue. By the time I got the boat to work on the dark blue was a light/medium gray it was so heavily oxidized and faded. I probably had about 15-16 hours into wetsanding/buffing/polishing but once done it looked like new. The only gel I used on the boat was fo fix some gouges and chips. This was a trade in boat we had and we had it for atleast 8-9 months after I worked on it and it looked the same when it finally left, and sat out in the weather every day until then. I do agree though, not EVERY boat can be this way and you can only do so much before you sand through the gel to the f/g. Good luck!

 

Sounds about right to me. I will offer that some boats have a much thicker gelcoat layer to play with than others. For instance, very well made high performance boats that are designed with light weight as a top priority have a very thin layer of gel. (Douglas Skater cats are awesome high performance boats, but have paper thin gel for just that reason.) This makes restoration a bit tricky since you can buff right through the gel and into the mat in a heartbeat. Most family boats on the other hand have a very thick gel layer – which leaves plenty of “fresh” gel to expose with sanding and buffing.

That said, even with a ton of gel to work with, the “fresh” gel underneath still seems to oxidize at a faster rate than brand new gel. The bright side? If you have tons of gel to work with, you can actually keep a formerly faded / oxidized boat looking good for many years. I’d still offer than keeping it from oxidizing in the first place is far easier though.

On a related note, I had a customer come up to me last fall and ask if we could wax his boat for the very first time. He said, “I really want to take care of this one so it doesn’t oxidize like the last one.” “Um, how old is your new boat sir?” I asked. “It’s five years old now.” He replied. Yea, that would be about time for the very first coat of wax. Words fail me.

 

What about sealing it with Vertiglass or something like that?

 

Im selling my moomba this spring and the top of the bow is DULL black. I might try that kit from meguiars thanks guys

 

Dammit never mind..there out of stock

 

Agreed, I've used it with a rotary on our 1998 Regal and it worked wonders.

 

Any boating supply store should have it... Hell, even Bass Pro sells it.

 

2stroked, that is very true about some boats having paper thin gel. Speaking of the Skaters, have you ever climbed down into the sponsons of one? Shut it all up and you can see daylight through those things. But yes they are some fine boats. Had the pleasure of running a few and fell in love! Another company that does that who shouldn't is Cranchi, they are an Italian made sport yacht manufacturer. We were a dealer for them at the Lake of the ozarks where I used to work and those boats are probably the best of the best in my mind but I did some work on a 41 footer last summer that was on a lift and the lift busted and put some holes in the hull. I wnt to fix some scratches on the hull sides and about crapped. There is no need for those kind of boat to be gelled like that. I think a piece of notebook paper is thicker than the gel on that thing. Anyways, glad to see there are some boat lovers on here also.

Brandon