Removing yearly registration decals with a razor blade before placing a new one over the years is a great practice. Still, before going all out with a razor blade on plastics, fiberglass and anything other than metal, I will try various plastic scrapers in my collection. Least destructive first, right? As long as scraper is slightly "harder" than the surface being used on it should work. For foam-backed adhesives and thick glue decals I use Goo Gone to soften them up as well as to clean surface once I remove them. Works wonders on RV self leveling and vertical application silicones. Can't wait for 3M visit recap!
You're entirely right. I'm old, a veteran so I just go for what always works and as stated, if I scratch the boat, I can repair it. 3m was just here... OMG! So excited!
Thank you for this video. I am a new boat owner, first boat. The boat I purchased is an ‘05 Bayliner bowrider 185 as a family fun boat. The gel coat seems like it hasn’t had a wax on it in years. Being the TH-cam student that I am I picked up a rotary and a DA from Harbor Freight, I know, to get to work on restoring the life back to the gel coat. I’ve been working Meguiar’s 49 oxidation remover with a wool pad on the rotary and getting great results with removing the oxidation. I have been using a foam pad and Meguiar’s high polish on the DA and I just can’t get rid of the swirl marks. Should I be using the rotary with a polishing pad instead? Let me know if you can. I am very ambitious to get this boat looking as good as I can. Thank you for doing what you do.
You should be using 3M's heavy cut, then 3M's Perfect-it ex ac on a good wool pad till it looks perfect. Clean it and apply a wax with and remove it with a random orbital and a soft foam pad.
@@Local_Boydidgood Newbie question- when it comes to the wax, would I use different soft foam pads for the application and removal of the wax? I would assume so, I just have to ask.
I tend to apply "wax" with either a white Terry cloth towel folded into thirds and then thirds again to make a small square I can place my fingers into, to hold the edges of the towel and keep it flat or a soft foam pad on a random orbital buffer. The same kind of pad can be used to remove the "wax" when it is dry. Using the "oxidation remover will leave swirls that a random orbital with a foam pad, can't remove, not easily at least. You would need to use your" oxidation remover" and a stiff foam pad on your RA to have more of an effect.
I am very interested to know how you handle cracks in gel coat. Such as around wake tower mounting points, where it seems to be extremely common. At least down here where the is blasting down on your boat 4 months or more a year at 90+ degrees.
Nice video. I hate fkn decals and stickers and junk. The custom one off RZV500 in my avatar has none. My buddy who is an industrial engineer always asks me why I don't put Yamaha and other race like decals on my beautiful no decal creation. Nope. It has Yamaha tuning forks on the tank. That's it. I recently bought a sand blaster from a dude that covered it in decals. First thing I did was de-decal it. Next is my 28' gel coated travel trailer with the humongous decals on it. Decals must come off. I will look in to that eraser wheel thing. Seen it before but never tried it. Thanks!
I slide it perpendicularly against something, yes. Concrete, sandpaper or wood. Tap the corners slightly up and test against skin before you do the boat. Lee
I have 2 red warning stickers that when removed show the red color literally stained the white gel coat to the extent you can still almost read what they said. Booo!
Gold leaf lettering on some yachts does the same thing and costs some dough to repair if on a painted surface. My 1st piece of advice would be to finish the job, enjoy the totality of what you've accomplished and then, let the sun hit it for a bit after stripping the "wax" off of that area to let the UV's do what it is they do. If after a few days, you're not seeing it as much but still just a bit, repeat the steps in that spot. When applying your "wax" overlap the borders of the worked on spot by a foot. (sorry rest of the world, I'm too, relaxed to convert that to metric or remember at the moment, what that is in cm.. 😂 #loving life) OK, sorry. If you want to try a more aggressive approach, strip the wax, ex"ac it and apply FSR to the spots and follow the instructions. Shy of that ; grind a bit more, deal with it and let time cure it or put cooler decals over those spots. Big picture, are you glad you did the job? Do you like what you see, can you fix what you don't like? Will it be even better next time?
@@Local_Boydidgood Day 3, the day I finally "got it". I had an out of balance buffing wheel. Switched to the quick connect and a 2 sided 3M and everything smoothed out. Also completed compounding and have moved to polishing. Tested some ceramic hybrid wax... oh boy, it's going to look like liquid glass. Can't thank you enough Lee, this 21 year old gel coat camper looks showroom new, its just baffling how beautiful the gel coat is, and yes some sticker bleed is not a big thing. So very glad I watched hours of you buffing and bought such great tools. My opinion, they've already paid for themselves. Do you switch wheels between grits?
I dedicate one for Super-Duty but between Heavy cut and Perfect-it ex ac, not really. It's not a bad idea to try but as a rule, if you work Heavy Cut down far enough, the Perfect-it starts more aggressive (like, as gritty but not exactly the same mechanism) I'm happy, great B-day gift! I was going to ask about the swirls. I've told 3M about that issue, return/exchange the pad where you bought it and call into 3M. The louder our voices are, the better. Thank you for trusting me, it means more than I can tell you to me. I'm so happy with you guys and your success.
@@Local_Boydidgood Don't sweat it! We're kind of in the same boat. It took 20 years and two kids before mine decided it was time to move on!! They all think the grass is greener on the other side until the honeymoon is over and reality sets in!
Oh well, we at least have the memories. I'm sorry about that situation but something tells me that we're going to be fine. I was into that single life before mine, ready to enjoy it again! 😉👍🏼
@@Local_Boydidgood Exactly! I kind of like being single anyways because I don't have to answer to anyone! Feels good to be free for a change. 👍Now I have to get off the computer and start buffing my Grady! lol
Removing yearly registration decals with a razor blade before placing a new one over the years is a great practice. Still, before going all out with a razor blade on plastics, fiberglass and anything other than metal, I will try various plastic scrapers in my collection. Least destructive first, right? As long as scraper is slightly "harder" than the surface being used on it should work. For foam-backed adhesives and thick glue decals I use Goo Gone to soften them up as well as to clean surface once I remove them. Works wonders on RV self leveling and vertical application silicones.
Can't wait for 3M visit recap!
You're entirely right. I'm old, a veteran so I just go for what always works and as stated, if I scratch the boat, I can repair it.
3m was just here... OMG! So excited!
What can you tell us? We are sitting on pins and needles over here.
On theeee way my man... Uploading now!
th-cam.com/video/Y4EmTAFh7Ck/w-d-xo.html
Thank you for this video. I am a new boat owner, first boat. The boat I purchased is an ‘05 Bayliner bowrider 185 as a family fun boat. The gel coat seems like it hasn’t had a wax on it in years. Being the TH-cam student that I am I picked up a rotary and a DA from Harbor Freight, I know, to get to work on restoring the life back to the gel coat. I’ve been working Meguiar’s 49 oxidation remover with a wool pad on the rotary and getting great results with removing the oxidation. I have been using a foam pad and Meguiar’s high polish on the DA and I just can’t get rid of the swirl marks. Should I be using the rotary with a polishing pad instead? Let me know if you can. I am very ambitious to get this boat looking as good as I can. Thank you for doing what you do.
You should be using 3M's heavy cut, then 3M's Perfect-it ex ac on a good wool pad till it looks perfect. Clean it and apply a wax with and remove it with a random orbital and a soft foam pad.
@@Local_Boydidgood
Newbie question- when it comes to the wax, would I use different soft foam pads for the application and removal of the wax? I would assume so, I just have to ask.
I tend to apply "wax" with either a white Terry cloth towel folded into thirds and then thirds again to make a small square I can place my fingers into, to hold the edges of the towel and keep it flat or a soft foam pad on a random orbital buffer. The same kind of pad can be used to remove the "wax" when it is dry.
Using the "oxidation remover will leave swirls that a random orbital with a foam pad, can't remove, not easily at least. You would need to use your" oxidation remover" and a stiff foam pad on your RA to have more of an effect.
I am very interested to know how you handle cracks in gel coat. Such as around wake tower mounting points, where it seems to be extremely common. At least down here where the is blasting down on your boat 4 months or more a year at 90+ degrees.
I don't "fix" boats. I buff them
th-cam.com/video/FCF51QZoSsI/w-d-xo.html
As to cracks, I alert the owner and move on.
Nice video. I hate fkn decals and stickers and junk. The custom one off RZV500 in my avatar has none. My buddy who is an industrial engineer always asks me why I don't put Yamaha and other race like decals on my beautiful no decal creation. Nope. It has Yamaha tuning forks on the tank. That's it. I recently bought a sand blaster from a dude that covered it in decals. First thing I did was de-decal it. Next is my 28' gel coated travel trailer with the humongous decals on it. Decals must come off. I will look in to that eraser wheel thing. Seen it before but never tried it. Thanks!
Always nice to clean stuff up. Decals... Yuck.
Do you have any recommendations where to get the replacement cobalt stickers?
Etsy or, try your local sign maker or vinyl wrap shops.
Any good suggestions for how best to de-tune the blade? Just work it on sandpaper?
I slide it perpendicularly against something, yes. Concrete, sandpaper or wood. Tap the corners slightly up and test against skin before you do the boat.
Lee
Nice video.
Thanks Daman!
How much does something like that cost for a boat?
$75 per foot.
"I recently met a woman who's hand moves that quickly" ROFL
😁
I have 2 red warning stickers that when removed show the red color literally stained the white gel coat to the extent you can still almost read what they said. Booo!
Gold leaf lettering on some yachts does the same thing and costs some dough to repair if on a painted surface.
My 1st piece of advice would be to finish the job, enjoy the totality of what you've accomplished and then, let the sun hit it for a bit after stripping the "wax" off of that area to let the UV's do what it is they do. If after a few days, you're not seeing it as much but still just a bit, repeat the steps in that spot. When applying your "wax" overlap the borders of the worked on spot by a foot. (sorry rest of the world, I'm too, relaxed to convert that to metric or remember at the moment, what that is in cm.. 😂 #loving life)
OK, sorry. If you want to try a more aggressive approach, strip the wax, ex"ac it and apply FSR to the spots and follow the instructions.
Shy of that ; grind a bit more, deal with it and let time cure it or put cooler decals over those spots.
Big picture, are you glad you did the job? Do you like what you see, can you fix what you don't like? Will it be even better next time?
@@Local_Boydidgood Day 3, the day I finally "got it". I had an out of balance buffing wheel. Switched to the quick connect and a 2 sided 3M and everything smoothed out. Also completed compounding and have moved to polishing. Tested some ceramic hybrid wax... oh boy, it's going to look like liquid glass. Can't thank you enough Lee, this 21 year old gel coat camper looks showroom new, its just baffling how beautiful the gel coat is, and yes some sticker bleed is not a big thing. So very glad I watched hours of you buffing and bought such great tools. My opinion, they've already paid for themselves. Do you switch wheels between grits?
I dedicate one for Super-Duty but between Heavy cut and Perfect-it ex ac, not really. It's not a bad idea to try but as a rule, if you work Heavy Cut down far enough, the Perfect-it starts more aggressive (like, as gritty but not exactly the same mechanism)
I'm happy, great B-day gift! I was going to ask about the swirls. I've told 3M about that issue, return/exchange the pad where you bought it and call into 3M. The louder our voices are, the better.
Thank you for trusting me, it means more than I can tell you to me. I'm so happy with you guys and your success.
I want to meet the girl that moves her hand that fast!! 😂😂
She moved to AK to start fires with sticks. There's plenty more of them in the world. Next!
@@Local_Boydidgood Don't sweat it! We're kind of in the same boat. It took 20 years and two kids before mine decided it was time to move on!! They all think the grass is greener on the other side until the honeymoon is over and reality sets in!
Oh well, we at least have the memories. I'm sorry about that situation but something tells me that we're going to be fine. I was into that single life before mine, ready to enjoy it again! 😉👍🏼
@@Local_Boydidgood Exactly! I kind of like being single anyways because I don't have to answer to anyone! Feels good to be free for a change. 👍Now I have to get off the computer and start buffing my Grady! lol
One question! what kind of silicon sealant would you recommend to use? I have to replace a few 6 inch pry out deck plates. Thank you for any help!