Hull and Deck Refinishing

S

swensond

New Member
I have a fairly old (as in 20+ years) sunfish that has passed through several hands before arriving with me a couple of years ago. Over the years the gel-coat deck has oxidized into a color that is more reminiscent of a sky blue with baby powder sprinkled over the whole surface. Likewise the hull displays many years of spending summers on a freshwater mooring. A sort-of brownish yellow color. I power wash the hull when I take the boat out around labor day and I have tried regular commercial cleaners on both the deck and the hull with very limited effect (dirt and any growth gone, but no real change in the color).

Now I have been looking at some products such as "NewGlass2" and "Poly Glow" etc.which advertise restoring a like-new finish. Does anyone have any experience with these types or other types of products? What is the collective wisdom?

If people would prefer to not remark on specific products on the forum pages then please E-mail me your thoughts.
 
There are several threads on this forum that cover your exact question. Do a search on "wet sanding" or "hull repairs" for greater detail. If you have the dirt off it's time to do a little wet sanding. If the hull is free from deep gouges, chips or cracks you can simply wet sand with 1000/1200/1500 even 2000 grit paper and bring back the shine. The same goes for the deck, however the striping is on the gel coat not in the gel coat so sand around them. Good Luck!
 
The first article on gelcoat refinish that comes to mind is on the SF Class home page under "Tips & Tricks". The sanding instructions start at about step 9 and a bbryant suggests, start with a finer grit wet or dry sandpaper used WET (do not dry sand). Double check your striping, some were applied tape and others were gelcoat (my '69 and '86 have gelcoat stripes), newer, round edge SF may not . It your fingernail catches the edge of the stripe it may be tape and follow bbryants advise (don't sand the stripes). Start with the lower # sandpaper on a sanding block (no power sanders here) and work up, the finer the sandpaper, the higher the gloss. After sanding you can use rubbing/polishing compound to get the gloss even higher. A coat of wax will make it shine even better (deck only), but will also make the deck slippery to sit on. The colored deck will need a good coat of UV protecting wax and be stored out of the sun or it will fade back to where you are now. I did my brothers red '69 as above, got it back to bright red and a year later it is back to an almost burgandy color, but still smooth (no cover or wax).

From what I have read about some of these "miracle" finish products, they are not worth the price. Can't remember the name of one of them, but you need thier cleaner, the restorer and then the sealer at about $25 each (or $75 total) and it did not do any better job than good old fashion elbow grease and wax.
 
Thanks....I will jump over to the SF Class page and take a look. I should have thought to use the search command to begin with, but then I wouldn't have thought of wet sanding as the topic.
 
for simple oxidation (as opposed to getting out scratches), I would definitely not start with wet sanding. Try rubbing compound first. 3M makes a good one.
 
Also look at the FAQ (frequently asked questions) at the top of the Forum home page. Painting is a last result if there is no other way to save and restore the original gelcoat.

Alan Glos
 
star bright hull cleaner is a great cleaner product avail at walmart , west marine etc. it will clean up your bottom to super white.
 
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