Several appearance questions.

[cdlong]

1. I have black spots that appear on-in the gel coat. Some wash away and to remove others, I have to us a Mr. Clean magic sponge.
2. When looking down the hull. I have shiny then dull, then shiny then dull patches. It's like I wax a 2' wide portion, skip 2', wax 2" skip 2'. This occurs on both sides of the hull.
3. Cabin fiberglass has no shine at all.
4. How do I repair/recoat the rusted fender trailers?
5, Gel coat cracks and dings. Most folks here I have talked to about repairing my gel coat cracks and dings must be on drugs. I could buy a newer boat for what they ant to charge. Is there a web site for DIYers? I need a lot of guidance and photos. I made one repair w/ 2 part epoxy, but it was where one of the screws the hold the Bimini top pulled out.

[hermco]

Bleach. The black stuff is mold. Weathered gelcoat is very porous.

[cdlong]

Thanks. Any product that will help the old gel coat? I have been using Starbrite boat wax.

[gofastsandman]

Clean it w X 14.
Compound w 3 m and wax w 3 m finesse it.

[hermco]

If you just want to do a quick spruce up I have used cleaner wax before, works easily and reasonably well by hand.

http://www.amazon.com/3M-Marine-Clea.../dp/B0000AY66D

[Bushwacker]

Originally Posted by cdlong

1. I have black spots that appear on-in the gel coat. Some wash away and to remove others, I have to us a Mr. Clean magic sponge.
2. When looking down the hull. I have shiny then dull, then shiny then dull patches. It's like I wax a 2' wide portion, skip 2', wax 2" skip 2'. This occurs on both sides of the hull.
3. Cabin fiberglass has no shine at all.

5, Gel coat cracks and dings. . .

I'd patch the holes where the mat is showing with the Fasco stuff Chuck recommends to keep water out of the laminate. I've used it on my bottom painting project and it seems to be about same hardness as gel coat, so it sands easily.

I'd follow Hermco's advice on cleaning the gel coat with bleach to eliminate the black spots. Then check out this thread on Polyglo . . . it's MUCH less work than the wet sand/compound/wax option and much more durable! Use their cleaner (full strength if necessary) along with the 3M scrubber that comes in the kit. The gel coat will then look very dull, but you will be amazed at the gloss the coating will put on it.

I've had my boat since 1975, and never waxed the cabin top because I didn't want kids slipping on it, so it looked about like yours. However I haven't had kids up there for a long time, so I tried the polyglo on it 7-8 years ago and was amazed at the results! I'll never use wax again! It's not cheap but sometimes you can find better deals on it at boat shows.

[cdlong]

"I'd patch the holes where the mat is showing with the Fasco stuff Chuck recommends to keep water out of the laminate".
Cam you give me more info on this product please?

[Capt Chuck]

Originally Posted by cdlong

4. How do I repair/recoat the rusted fender trailers?
5, Gel coat cracks and dings. Most folks here I have talked to about repairing my gel coat cracks and dings must be on drugs.

4. use a heat gun to remove the old tape stripes on the fenders, sand, clean and paint with the "Pettit Trailercoat" or "Cold Zinc Galvanized Paint"

5. You will need to use a dremel tool to scrape out the old spider cracks. Then you can wipe it with Acetone and fill them with "2-part Fasco 7 Epoxy Patching Compound" Lot of work here.

BTW: You can always stay on the drugs like the rest of us

http://www.fascoepoxies.com/products.html

[cdlong]

Used a heat gun and razor blade scraper w/ leather glove to remove stripes from fender. The rust is sanded smooth w/ 220 grit paper. Should I keep sanding until the rust is gone?

[Capt Chuck]

Originally Posted by cdlong

Used a heat gun and razor blade scraper w/ leather glove to remove stripes from fender. The rust is sanded smooth w/ 220 grit paper. Should I keep sanding until the rust is gone?

No need to keep sanding. Now wipe it with Ospho, that will kill the rust. Then paint with the Pettit Trailercoat. You can get it at West Marine. It goes a long way