I have a detail man hired to compound my gel coat and we are in day 4.. Got all the compound done and we are now coating with wax.. Very pleased with the shine.. The yellow stains on the finish were actually "in"the finish just below the surface.. we took that out with 1000 grit wet sandpaper and follow up with compound.. I saw 1 other member on the forum a while back with the same yellow staining... The solution is 1000 grit wet sandpaper on a block and come back with 06060 3m extra cut compound with variable speed polisher and then a coat of hard shell wax... slow going but it works and takes you back to near original shine if not original shine. Make an old girl look like a young chick but requires work and patience.... much.
The compound takes out the dull that the wet sand causes.. The finish will shine and bead water after the compound but you still need to put on a coat of hard shell wax to protect.
Its amazing what these old beauties will do with a little care.
Congrats!!!
Had mine done while in Mexico. They wet sanded the whole coach with 1200, then buffed with compound and waxed with Maguires. 4 days, all for $250. And the beer was cold.
It wakes up the finish.... I ended up with 270.00 in my job.. 4 1/2 days... That's labor. Compound... wet sand paper and wax was extra. Very pleased though..Money well spent..
Wow! Your guys did really good!
I'm slower now than I'd like to be and even with a great helper, spent 3+ weeks doing what you did, (plus some extras) .
Since my coach had just had a professional detailing done (not totally happy but it was looking ok), I decided to take the time, TIME!! to get down and do it well.
Gelcoat can certainly be sanded down(especially when there is plenty of gelcoat thickness to work with, like our Foretravels). Then use aggressive compound to remove sanding marks made from 600-2000 grit papers etc. Then a lighter polish,(white compound), then Wax on wax off till you get tired!
http://memoryroads.blogspot.com/2013/05/gelcoat-renewal.html
I found I had to get back into a couple of areas to really undo all the prior coatings of this or that, that were done in the past. You really have to sand thru the top layers to get down to virgin gelcoat(and there is plenty of it). then take the time to polish it back to near original brilliance.
If you have the time and energy and do not have a problem with delamination etc. Gelcoat can be made to look almost like new with elbow grease and time.
Your right memory... And after all the polishing one can still look at it from a different angle and see spots.. I have mine down to where I can keep my polisher and polish with me and get those spots ocassionaly when you see them.. May never get completly thru but as long as one looks better all the time then that is good.
Dub, I went after many many of those dull spots....after realizing what i was up against. "Other peoples wax that sealed some of the gelcoat." If they put on 2 or 3 coats over an area...well then it was going to take 2 or 3 times more compounding to get rid of that wax and get some gelcoat removed!
Gotta get past any top coatings protecting even the old faded, degraded, oxidized...did i say "failed due to age" gelcoat. Once you have cut thru that... the next probem is (well, in my case- operator error) No matter how careful I attempt to be in working a pattern with a buffer and keeping a pressure on the wheel that i feel is cutting with some consistancy...there will always be a spot here and there that shows up later..LATER and often only in different lighting... Late afternoons, just after sunset.. early mornings are the best time to carefully examine a buff job. Indirect light helps the eye see things. I too am carrying the buffer with me and I can see 1-3% of areas that, at some campground...I'll take on the task again and enjoy the outcome. Gelcoat, 'can most often' be brought back.
So, I'm planning to attempt this with my coach. A couple of questions: What do I need to do to protect the painted on graphics while buffing the gelcoat? Do I need to mask them off or just be careful and not spend too much time overlapping them? The coach has had the last 6-7 years stored inside but I still looking for someplace like that. My sides really look pretty good but the front and back caps need a lot more work.
Rich
I stayed off my graphics with the compound and polishing wheel.... My graphics are painted on so when I went with the final coat of wax I waxed them....They are still bright since it has been only 2 years since painting them on... The only dealing I've had with tape on graphics was when I took mine off... compound couldn't be good for vinyl. I would simply stay off them with compound and wheel.
After reading more carefully I see your decals are painted on as well.. The extra cut 06060 3m I think would be to agressive for paint... again I would simply stay off them with compound and polish wheel.. I wouldn't go to the work of masking them off, not that hard to keep the polishing wheel off of... The inch away from the decal I used my hand more...
Thanks!
Rich