HOW TO SAVE $5700.

[magicwormman]

7 hours ago, fishinwrench said:

For what it's worth here is what I know/have learned about gel coat:

The cloudiness that everyone refers to as "oxidation" is the result of the loss of petroleum (oil) from sun exposure, and reflective flake speeds up the loss and makes it look worse than if it was on a solid color with no flake.  If left alone long enough all of the oil will be pulled from the clear coat making it so thin that you can actually feel the flake underneath.   At that point it is just gone, but if a decent amount of the clear coat is still there you can actually soak the cloudy area in oil (motor oil, gear lube, just about anything petroleum based) and the clear coat will soak some up and restore that bright clear finish.  But it takes time (as in weeks of constant soaking) if it is really cloudy.   I learned this by accident after removing a V8 engine from an old salvaged boat sitting in a field. When we jerked the engine out we slopped oil all over the old boat and since it was going to eventually get bulldozed into a crush pile we didn't bother cleaning up our mess.  A couple months later the boat got shoved into a pile with various other dead soldiers and on the area where we slopped all that oil the finish looked and felt like a brand new boat. No amount of scrubbing/buffing anywhere else on that boat could have made it look and feel as pretty as the spots where all that oil sat on it for so long.   

So when I take in a faded old boat around here I buy 3-4 cans of Liquid Gold furniture polish and I spray it on until it is almost dripping off....And I just let it sit like that, then a few days later I drench it again....And again if it sits here long enough, then rub it down with a dry towel.   The longer you let it soak the longer it will stay looking nice.    Some non-detergent 30w motor oil will work too but I like being able to spray it on, so I use the Liquid Gold.   It works great and doesn't stain the carpet if it drips on it some, like motor oil will. But the trick is to saturate the clear coat and just let it soak in for as long as you can stand it.

This works on old dried out vinyl seats and decals too.

Great info Wrench! I also have heard that vaseline smeared heavy on the cloudy gelcoat also helps to bring out the shine. That's what makes this site so great, the desire for fellow fisherman to help each other.

[Champ188]

Boat looks great, Spoony. Nice job. Now go enjoy it!

 

[Flysmallie]

8 hours ago, fishinwrench said:

The cloudiness that everyone refers to as "oxidation" is the result of the loss of petroleum (oil) from sun exposure, and reflective flake speeds up the loss and makes it look worse than if it was on a solid color with no flake.  

Yeah no that's not what's happening. There is no petroleum to lose. Yes they are sometimes petroleum based but nothing is being loss. Once it's cured it's done. UV rays degrade everything. That's a fact. That's all that is happening. And yes "oxidation" is the correct term. 

Your method will work. (little secret, Armor All is so much easier and will last a lot longer.) But it's just a bandaid. In reality, even though it looks "good?", it's doing more damage. It's not correcting the issue and will never feel or look as good as doing it properly. 

[Flysmallie]

1 hour ago, vernon said:

Fortunately, I've never encountered that problem but interesting nonetheless.

 

As many new boats as you have bought I'm not surprised.   Plus if you take care of them it's usually not an issue. 

[m&m]

Bassmaster had a multi-part video series about boat restoration.  I have to say that I followed the recommendations in the video using those products and have been very happy. I have an '87 Cajun and while it does not look brand new it sure looks a lot better and the oxidation has not returned.  I'm blaming my lack of fish catching on the boat being too shiney causing the fish to swim away from it. 

Mike

[vernon]

18 minutes ago, Flysmallie said:

 

As many new boats as you have bought I'm not surprised.   Plus if you take care of them it's usually not an issue. 

Well, you got me there!  Plus I do take meticulous care of them.  Every time I see an older boat that looks all dull, faded and neglected I can't help but think that at one time that thing was brand new and looking spectacular but now......?  Just never really understood why somebody would let that happen to a boat, a car, a house or whatever.  Stuff just all costs way too much money to let it go to crap like that if you ask me.

[MOPanfisher]

years ago I bought an old champion, had badly oxidized finish, spend about half the winter with an orbital buffer and buffing compound to remove the oxidation, then went back with a couple coats of good wax, think I used Nu Finish or Finish 2000 or something.  It was a thing of beauty when done, or at least it was to me.  Long gone now.  Current aluminum boat I occasionally will give it a coating of pledge furniture polish on the gunwales and console but sure makes it slick.  It lives inside so its not too bad for it.

[fishinwrench]

It's hard to sell an ugly boat but when it comes to fishing that's what I prefer.  I can't fish the way I really like to if I'm worried about getting a scratch on my boat.   If a boat looks real pretty then I can't help but try to keep it that way.  

There is a happy medium where it looks good from 100 feet away, and that's my definition of the perfect finish on a fishing boat. ?

[fishinwrench]

7 hours ago, Flysmallie said:

Yeah no that's not what's happening. There is no petroleum to lose. Yes they are sometimes petroleum based but nothing is being loss. Once it's cured it's done. UV rays degrade everything. That's a fact. That's all that is happening. And yes "oxidation" is the correct term. 

Your method will work. 

The fact that gel coat becomes thinner with age is pretty much proof that SOMETHING is being lost.   

Science aside, the fact that soaking in oil works is really all I'm concerned with.  I've never noticed any damage from doing it. No further yellowing and it isn't like the oil soaks into the fiberglass or anything.   

Only time will tell if today's gel coat is any different, but the stuff from the 70's-80's doesn't mind a good oil bath one bit.  And it definitely last way WAY longer than a wipe down with Armor-All.  ?