Restoring oxidised hull

[Narcosis]

I'm looking views as to what this level of oxidation would be categorised as. I've searched online and am getting conflicting advice as to whether compounding and polishing would restore the original colour. Also, what products would I use? I've had a quote of £1250 to 'wrap' the blue parts, but would prefer to try and restore, or is it a waste of time and effort??

 

[rafiki_]

This looks recoverable with a rotary polisher with a mild cutting compound. Definitely worth a go before you consider more drastic solutions like wrapping. There are any number of compounds to choose from, ranging from Halfords specials to hugely expensive Boaty stuff at the Chandlery. 3M usually gets a good press. I would try a PM to Firely 625, he is in the auto trade and knows what he is doing with respect to bodywork and detailing.

 

[VicS]

3M as mentioned for compounds, polishes, mops and even machines.

Farecla also for compounds polishes and mops.

A number of people have found that a Silverline sander polisher ( just over £40 from Toolstation) is a reasonably decent machine and a lot cheaper than a 3M one.

Worth buying better quality mops than Toolstation sell though!

A search for Farecla should find loads of stuff to read as the name is always mentioned. Mostly on the " Reader to Reader " forum

Forumite Marine Reflections is "in the business" and has posted some valuable advice.

 

[omega2]

Faracla g6, with a damp cloth, do a little bit and see what you get, even Tcut will bring it back, if a small area is not up to your liking then nothing lost?

 

[Narcosis]

That's great guys. Thanks for the advice, glad it can be salvaged!

 

[Bandit]

Gel coat well faded. you may get it back but there is a thing about "ageing" an old hull will be polished back to a perfect shine but it will not last my boat after 6 weeks looked as if it had not been done.

In general it is better to keep on top of it rather than to let it go and then later to try and recover it.

There is something about all American sports boats I have seen is that American the gel coat does not seem to last as long as good European gel coat.

Wrapping seems to offer a good result but I look forward to seeing it in 8 or 10 years time.

I personally went for a re spray result 8 out of 10.

 

[Narcosis]

Thanks Bandit, how much should I be looking at for a respray? (24')

 

[tinkicker0]

Sod the expensive stuff, start with Solvol Autosol to shift the oxidisation rapidly, then use milder alternatives to bring back the shine, then wax.

 

[Marine Reflections]

I'm looking views as to what this level of oxidation would be categorised as. I've searched online and am getting conflicting advice as to whether compounding and polishing would restore the original colour. Also, what products would I use? I've had a quote of £1250 to 'wrap' the blue parts, but would prefer to try and restore, or is it a waste of time and effort??

As others have suggested this should be easily dealt with via polishing techniques. The products don't matter so much as the plan of attack and the techniques used.

Personally, I would avoid the wrapping. Fender rubbing makes a mess quite quickly, despite some of the films being very strong it's not very resistant to scrapes due to the bonding, so the odd bump into the pontoon will require a repair rather than removing a mark. It will also appear very 'orange peely where your gel coat could have a near perfect reflection.

To explain what may have happened and to help categorise the condition for you, I would say that this is light to medium 'accelerated' oxidation.

The reason for the 'accelerated' is that the oxidation (fading) is not uniformed.

Usually with basic oxidation from the Sun you would have a more even coverage rather than a cloudy effect.

There are tell tale signs of chemical runs where products used to clean have been allowed to run down the blue, the wash chemicals were probably not PH neutral to begin with and then have probably only been given a token rinse. If this was the case then it is also very likely other wash sins were practiced, all adding to the premature fading.

I would imagine also that the boat has been given a false finish with an application as opposed to correction. One where the problems have not been dealt with but rather glossed over.

As Tinkicker suggests - the oxidation needs to be removed, fine polished then waxed - although the Autosol can sit back down TK.

A warning:
The gel coat on some Chris Crafts is not the thickest on these sections, don't think you can just attack with some harsh compound and get away with it. A decent evaluation, before and during, not going any deeper than needed. That said, too little removed and the correction process that has not been fine finished properly is just as bad.

Recommended products - 3M
The duration of the restoration is in the correction, not the products asked to perform miracles.
Paying for a 'polish' is subject to professional definition just as it is by the owner spending the money. Know what you are paying for when it comes to 'a polish'.

Certainly not a waste of time and effort, it is IMO the only way forward.

Spray painting, hull wrapping etc in your circumstances is like knitting a sheep a wooly jumper.

 

[Narcosis]

Thanks for that comprehensive response Marine Reflections! I shall order some 3M compound and 3M polish. 'Knitting a sheep a wool jumper' lol. Incidentally, what would be a reasonable figure for such a compounding job? This is a boat I'm hoping to buy, so, if I keep on top of keeping her polished at least twice a year, should the oxidation be kept at bay? (She'll be indoors for winter)

 

[Marine Reflections]

Thanks for that comprehensive response Marine Reflections! I shall order some 3M compound and 3M polish. 'Knitting a sheep a wool jumper' lol. Incidentally, what would be a reasonable figure for such a compounding job? This is a boat I'm hoping to buy, so, if I keep on top of keeping her polished at least twice a year, should the oxidation be kept at bay? (She'll be indoors for winter)

Probably not, I would look at waxing at least once every two months. This shouldn't be a problem as you might think because if the surfaces were silky smooth a wax on and off should only take ten minutes or so on this.
Twice a year is just asking for trouble. Wax is the pawn that takes the brunt, if you keep the surfaces beading and follow a decent wash routine then you won't have to correct again.

Quite often, if there is genuine interest, you may get this dealt with as part of an offer.

Cost is a surprisingly difficult one to answer without a close up inspection of the surfaces and a test patch performed.
It is much more of a 'how long is a piece of string' than most think. There are different start conditions and different opinions of finished standards.

Many will quote you for a compound and polish without even seeing the work involved, one pass of compound and one pass of a finer polishing material before waxing.
This may or may not deal with what we discussed on durability, very rarely is it all that is needed for a decent job, but the initial results may look similar.

If I was looking to buy the above and only had the picture in your original post to go by, I would allow at least around the £2500 ball park to deal with the entire exterior gel coat, that said you can easily find someone to give it a quick machine polish for a tenth of that price, but they probably have already done so in readying for sales.
The blue hull sides would be the easy bit.

It really is a haircut in the post I'm afraid.

 

[Bandit]

My boat is substantially bigger but probably about 2 to 3 K?.

My old boat navy coloured hull , spent its life in Guernsey at about 12 years a mirror cut and polish would last say 6 to 8 weeks then go off, water marks initially, then loose shine then look like you has not done it.

My current boat 7 years in Portugal then 4 in Guernsey it lasted as my previous boat as above ., so lasted 2 months looked like **** for 10 months then the equivalent of a 2k cut and polish , a re spray for mine 48ft ex vat was about 7k

If a boat has been regularly cut and polished and well looked after it will last better but if neglected and done once a year it would not last as many years in good condition.

White gell coat is best, then light is better, Blue, green and red are the worst to go chalky.

As I said above some American entry level boats do not last as long as their counterparts.

If you are putting the elbow grease in yourself not a great cost to cut and polish, if you pay someone else to do it is an annual cost that mounts up on a chalky boat.

The day will come when a wrap or a respray is more cost effective.

I accept the points above about a wrap being less forgiving than gel coat and you cant polish out marks but you can have the wrap repaired.

painted surfaces mark more than gel coat as well.

If I was you it is now the beginning of March and assuming you want the boat available from late April for the season, cut and polish it now, do your homework, see how well it lasts from a shine point of view, explore a wrap and a respray cost and make your mind up with a view to a winter project winter 2014/2015

 

[Jurgen]

This is defiantly a DIY job with a machine Polisher. The Silverline polisher offers great value but is a little on the heavy side (as my shoulders can testify lol) and is pretty easy to use, the secret is to keep it moving and not apply undue pressure.

There are plenty of folks on here that polish there own boats that would lend a hand if needed.