Buffing up a banana!

I recently acquired some solid '84 18 hulls and x-bars, thanks Genmar Star!. The hulls had some stencil lettering on the bows that needed to come off and she is oxidized very badly, chalky to be exact. The hulls are yellow with good "Boomer" stripes. I sanded off the stenciling and buffed the whole boat. It shined up great but has discoloration, darker and lighter yellow. I know I could just keep buffing until it evens up but was wondering if anyone had anything better. I have also considered wet sanding the whole thing and re-buffing but what a job that would be. I have done many white hulls in the past and am sure they had some discoloration as well but it wasn't noticable on white.

The hulls are very shiny but just not as perfect as I would like them. I plan to sell this boat, would you guys worry about the slight discoloration or are shiny hulls good enough? It is a '84 after all and shes got the bumps and scratches to prove it.

Just my 2 cents......I purchased a 81 that had original Ohio registration sticker numbers on each hull. Getting the stickers off was not the issue, trying to match the surrounding color was the real chore. The hulls were the standard Hobie white but these hulls had been outside for 25 plus years so shine they did not. I wet sanded the hulls in an attempt to get it close. And the color was close but the trained eye could see the outline. I did remove all the original stripes and installed new graphics with a width designed to cover almost all the old numbers plus the area where the original graphics occupied.

I wet sanded with 800, 1000, 1200 and I believe the final was 1600. The exact grit escape me but it was in this range. Your right, this is a ton of work. But I enjoyed it as the boat looked brand new when done.

If it were me, I'd leave it alone. After all they are not new hulls. And to do any more work is it really worth it in terms of selling the hulls for more $$$??

t-bone

I will be building a complete boat to sell, not just the hulls, in case I gave the wrong idea. I will try and post some pics to show what I'm talking about.

Its interesting how the gelcoat seems to shrink where its in the sun vs under stripes or logos. Its like it wears away in the sun over extended periods. I'm undecided about whether to keep this '84 as a beach boat and keep my Hotrod 18 on the trailer for racing and "good crew" weekends. I have some wings I could put on it but I think I would miss the spin.

I think I have resigned myself to t-bones idea with my own yellow hulls. I have peeled the old stripes off, and wet sanded and buffed untill the yellow shines proudly, but you can still see it is a bit brighter where the old stickers were, so I am going to add some new stripes to cover the edges and break it up so your eye can't recognize the difference as well.

Also, with regards to the name of this thread, my wife has named the boat "Dos Platanos"


Chad

_________________
H16

on the colored hulls, you can sand and buff all the way thru the Gelcoat and you will STILL see the outline.
(Don't ask me how I know......)
easiest way is to get them to shine evenly, and then if it still offends your eye, get creative with some sort of new striping.
White hulls are much more forgiving.

_________________
If the grass is greener on the other side of the fence, maybe it is time to water your own lawn.

Forget the outline and just get the consistent bright yellow back. Use a Scotch Brite (Red) pad. Hand do it or get discs for orbital sander. Jamestown has them. No need for all the sanding. Then buff with Mcquires, 3m or whatever. It's not much work and mine came out great.

_________________
H18, H17 & Various motor boats

Theres the answer I was looking for, scotchbrite pads. You would think that since my dad is a retired 3M salesman that I would have thought of scotchbrite buffing pads. I probably have a box of them in the attic. THANKS!

NP. Took me forever to figure that one out. Do a test circle to see how much time / pressure you need. Doenst take much! Use water too.

_________________
H18, H17 & Various motor boats