ddombrowski
New Member
Hey guys,
I've posted on here a few times since getting an older laser up and running again, but haven't been taking it seriously until now. I have a 70's era (don't know how old) boat thats been sailed a handful of times, but has spent MOST of its life in dry garaged storage. I'd have to say that for its age, its in pretty good shape, but I'm not all that experienced with these things.
Anyway, the bottom of the boat is in good shape, only a few scratches, nothing major. Top deck looks pretty good. The bottom of the boat is what I would consider "chalky", and the color is pretty faded. I'd like to polish and/or wax. I've read a bunch of older posts that all talk about sanding, painting, and gelcoating, but as much as the older boat may need it, I'm not interested in that kind of time investment. I'm interested in a quick polish/wax job at most.
99% of my hobby experience and workshop supplies are automotive in nature, and I have a lot of automotive tools to use (sanders, dremels, random orbital buffers, polishing compound, rubbing compound, carnuba wax, scratch (as in automotive paint scratch) remover, etc. I'm wondering what kind of polish and wax I should use on the bottom of the boat - can I use my automotive polishing compound and carnuba cleaner wax? Or should I go out and purchase a certain type of compound and wax? This is just to protect the bottom of the boat and to make it look nice - I don't care about racing, legality, or speed.
Second, I'm possibly interested in adding an inspection port to check out the mast step and help the boat air out. I'm pretty well versed in cutting, grinding, drilling etc in car repair, so I'm sure I could handle a hole in fiberglass. Does anyone have any tricks for making sure the hole is perfectly round and making a good seal? If I picked up a 5.5" hole saw, how close of a tolerance am I going to get compared to the exterior of the port? If I cut with a jigsaw, is it possible to sand the hole round for a better seal?
Thanks for the help! Any questions, just ask.
I've posted on here a few times since getting an older laser up and running again, but haven't been taking it seriously until now. I have a 70's era (don't know how old) boat thats been sailed a handful of times, but has spent MOST of its life in dry garaged storage. I'd have to say that for its age, its in pretty good shape, but I'm not all that experienced with these things.
Anyway, the bottom of the boat is in good shape, only a few scratches, nothing major. Top deck looks pretty good. The bottom of the boat is what I would consider "chalky", and the color is pretty faded. I'd like to polish and/or wax. I've read a bunch of older posts that all talk about sanding, painting, and gelcoating, but as much as the older boat may need it, I'm not interested in that kind of time investment. I'm interested in a quick polish/wax job at most.
99% of my hobby experience and workshop supplies are automotive in nature, and I have a lot of automotive tools to use (sanders, dremels, random orbital buffers, polishing compound, rubbing compound, carnuba wax, scratch (as in automotive paint scratch) remover, etc. I'm wondering what kind of polish and wax I should use on the bottom of the boat - can I use my automotive polishing compound and carnuba cleaner wax? Or should I go out and purchase a certain type of compound and wax? This is just to protect the bottom of the boat and to make it look nice - I don't care about racing, legality, or speed.
Second, I'm possibly interested in adding an inspection port to check out the mast step and help the boat air out. I'm pretty well versed in cutting, grinding, drilling etc in car repair, so I'm sure I could handle a hole in fiberglass. Does anyone have any tricks for making sure the hole is perfectly round and making a good seal? If I picked up a 5.5" hole saw, how close of a tolerance am I going to get compared to the exterior of the port? If I cut with a jigsaw, is it possible to sand the hole round for a better seal?
Thanks for the help! Any questions, just ask.