Cleaning Rudders

Just curious if anyone knows... do you think the rudders on my '83 H16 were originally white? I wasn't sure if there was an off-white, kind of creme color at some point. I want to clean them up if possible, or just paint them white. Any advice?

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1983 Hobie 16 "Rumpshaker"

Rudders on an original '83 are Lexan. They were originally white, but yellow with long exposure to the sun. They aren't dirty - just the plastic turns yellow.

There's not much you can do about it. You can try a bleaching agent. Paint does not stick well to Lexan and will look worse in the long run.

spray some clorox clean-up on them and scrub them with a brush. Takes about ten minutes and they will look perfect! I have to do mine about once a year.

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'83 H16 Tequilla Sunrise and Cat Fever

I sanded mine with a belt sander trying to stop them from screaming when up to speed. They came out very white, but still howl at anything over 10 knots. After using the belt sander I used "plumbers friend" cleaning powder that must have bleach in it. The places that the sander didn't touch came out brilliant white. I also used it on the hulls to take all the oxidation off. Great stuff.

Probably has an acid in it. I use Iron Out on my boat all the time. Really nasty stuff but it works well.

Thanks for all the replies, guys. I have Starbrite's Instant Hull Cleaner that works well to get all the brown water stains off the hulls. I tried it on the rudders, but no luck there (I didn't expect much). I will try something with strong bleach next. Not a big deal, but if I can get them white again it would be nice.

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1983 Hobie 16 "Rumpshaker"

Bar Keepers Friend at the grocery store works pretty well. It has oxalic acic and a mild abrasive--and it's cheap.

Bar Keepers Friend is great. Make a paste with it, let it dry, then scrub and rinse it off.

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Josh Benge
14 skip
16 skip
20 crew