scuffed gelcoat

[trapper]

Band of Brothers, I have a gelcoat dock scuff on the hull on the bow flare below the rub rail, about 3 ft. long. Have looked at few you tube videos on repair but they all seem a little overkill. The gelcoat is just marred not through the gelcoat or really scratched. Is there a less aggressive way to polish out scuff and bring the shine back? Appreciate all info, and will be doing it myself as I have all my previous fixes and mods. Big thanks!

 

[JJF]

I would try some polishing (not rubbing) compound followed by some wax or a cleaner/wax product. I believe polishing compound is about as least aggressive as it gets with still be effective.

 

[seasick]

The polishing compound may be called 'Cleaner/wax'
To me compound is more aggressive than Cleaner.
As JJF alluded to, the approach is so go backwards from the least aggressive (cleaner) as needed to remove the scratches. Once you get to the point where the gel coat is better than it was, you reverse course and go to the next less aggressive product and so on until you are at the Wax and final stage. Depending on how deep the bruise is, you could end up having to go to various grits of wet/dry sand paper. You can get wet/dry sandpaper in many grits up into the thousands which are less aggressive than a new 10 dollar bill ( well almost!)

 

[joker]

I’ve spent hours trying to get these marks off until last year at the end of the season the kid power washing my Grady used this . It was like magic the rub melted away followed by a quick wax this method is what they use on all boats time is money so I bought a can and use it at the end of the season for all my scoff marks my Grady is white 1987 Gulfsteam I would try it on a small section if not white hopefully this works for you

 

[Hookup1]

Sometimes the scuff marks from the rubber on the dock will transfer material into the gelcoat. Try some solvents first on a cloth rag and try to scrub out first. Then go back with polish or compound. If scratched you may need to wet sand. Get a spray bottle. Fill with water and a few squirts of Dawn dish detergent. Spray the paper and the gelcoat and sand out with 600 grit. Then 1000, 1500, 2000. You can buy a pack of assorted grits at auto store. Compound or polish out.

I used a 3M Trizak System. Overkill for what you are repairing.

GemLux Deluxe Outrigger Bases

White is the right choice for the enclosure but I'm not a big fan of the Stamoid material. It just doesn't weather that well. I really like the Stamoid. Dunno if it doesn't weather well but it cleans well and looks fantastic

www.greatgrady.com

 

[DennisG01]

Since you said it's not really scratched, then the mark you have is transfer from whatever you bumped into. Goof Off, Goo Be Gone, Mineral Spirits, etc, etc.

 

[trapper]

Thanks for all you responses, tough time explaining the marks. No transfer from the dock, more like a aggressive edge of sand paper left a long couple of streaks. Have not attacked it yet, but did try some Goof Off to no avail. Tried to get some pics of it to show here but having a hard time showing it up, maybe a sunny day. Anyway I will try a couple of the suggestions starting with the least aggressive.

 

[Hookup1]

Clean it up a little. 20/20 rule. 20 feet or 20 knots it looks great!

 

[DennisG01]

OK, using the word "Sandpaper" changes things. That sounds more like it IS a scratch?

Needs to be polished out. Multiple ways this can be done - depends on the extent of the damage and what tools you have and your experience level at doing this.

 

[MarineBob]

I am a fairly skilled amateur furniture and auto paint refinisher. Strictly amatuer so take my ideas with a grain of salt. But anyway, couple ideas. I have very successfully used plastic scratch remover on all sorts of scuffs. One brand name is PlastiX, or something similar. You can use it on milky headlights. Seems to have just enough super fine grit to clean and polish to a gloss. A bit softer is Bar Keepers Friend, maybe off a bit on the name. But that stuff I use on windshields and its abrasive enough to give a good cleaning and polish. If those ideas don't work, you can wet sand to any finish you want. I'd say to start with nothing more abrasive than 320, better to go with 400 first and see what it does. Keep things wet and you will get good results. The 400 will leave a bit of a matte surface, no biggie, go to 600 grit, then 800, 1200. All wet. You can go crazy and go to 2000 or even finer but I think that would not be needed. When it looks like the gloss you almost want, use some polishing compound. Not a heavy cutting compound but something that is for polish. You will be able to bring up whatever luster you want. Problem it might look so good you will want to do the whole deck/hull. Anyway, some ideas. If there is a gouge through a gel/clear coast, I'd clean it well and get a rattle can of clear coat for auto use and spry the area, then use the suggested sanding approach. You ought to be able to blend that in with not a lot of effort. I have used this approach on cars paint as well as furniture finishes.

 

[Hookup1]

I'd clean it well and get a rattle can of clear coat for auto use and spry the area,

Great advice except no clear coat on gelcoat.

 

[MarineBob]

For what sounds like a small scrape or gouge, you could fill with some white tinted epoxy and then finish as I noted