Finish Help

[Just Say N20]

I have no experience with Imron paint, and how to make it look great.

Parts of the rear deck have been touched up. I was told that when it was "touched up", the color matched. In the picture, the repainted areas are the darker yellow.

On the section shown, I tried lightly wet sanding, using a fine scratch remover by hand, using a product called Buff Magic (which I have had great success with on gelcoat) on a 7" wool pad at about 2500 rpms using a buffer.

I have done nothing to the engine hatch, and you can see it looks lighter (if it was gelcoat, I would say it looks oxidized) than the polished portion of the deck. Even after polishing, which slightly deepened the yellow, there is still a difference in color.

My gut says that if mild wet sanding didn't get me where I wanted to go, you can't get there from here.

Any suggestions?

Also, is there a way to get the grab rail brackets off with the deck on?

[HOWARD O]

Also, is there a way to get the grab rail brackets off with the deck on?

Skinny 10 yr. old with some mechanical ability might be your best bet. :cool:

[BlownCrewCab]

Treat the Imron just like GelCoat, wet sand/Buff. Just don't get it too hot or It'll burn, It's best Not to use "Stick" compound, but Medium Liquid compound is Okay. It's Not as thick as Gel so you don't want to remove much, no need to sand any rougher than 1000grit.

[Conquistador_del_mar]

I have no experience with Imron paint, and how to make it look great.

Parts of the rear deck have been touched up. I was told that when it was "touched up", the color matched. In the picture, the repainted areas are the darker yellow.

On the section shown, I tried lightly wet sanding, using a fine scratch remover by hand, using a product called Buff Magic (which I have had great success with on gelcoat) on a 7" wool pad at about 2500 rpms using a buffer.

I have done nothing to the engine hatch, and you can see it looks lighter (if it was gelcoat, I would say it looks oxidized) than the polished portion of the deck. Even after polishing, which slightly deepened the yellow, there is still a difference in color.

My gut says that if mild wet sanding didn't get me where I wanted to go, you can't get there from here.

Any suggestions?

Also, is there a way to get the grab rail brackets off with the deck on?

It sounds like your boat could use a paint job. The gelcoat will continue to deteriorate compared to the color matched Imron. If you paint the deck, it will remain the color that you shoot. Be sure to keep some extra Imron for later touchups if it gets nicked,etc. Any good refinishing paint store can color match your color using a computerized system or you can always go with a color off their color charts. As already suggested, a skinny person should be able to get to the nuts on the center stantion machine screws. If you paint it now, you will be glad you did on down the road. Bill

[Just Say N20]

It sounds like your boat could use a paint job. The gelcoat will continue to deteriorate compared to the color matched Imron. If you paint the deck, it will remain the color that you shoot. Be sure to keep some extra Imron for later touchups if it gets nicked,etc. Any good refinishing paint store can color match your color using a computerized system or you can always go with a color off their color charts. As already suggested, a skinny person should be able to get to the nuts on the center stantion machine screws. If you paint it now, you will be glad you did on down the road. Bill

Yes, it could use a paint job, but that is not in the plans at the moment. I had a chat with my wallet, and it won.

The deck was painted with Imron, and then touched up at a later time.

Two references to a skinny person. All I have is a pudgy 52 year old with short arms (nice visual). I don't tend to be claustiphobic, but I went up the ski locker under the deck of my 2+3 to tighten the bow eye that had gotten loose. Kinda freaked me out.

BCC, thanks for the info. I sanded very gently with 600, wanting to see if something a little severe would bring the color back, and after I polished everything out, I couldn't even tell where I had sanded. This was why I didn't think I could really do much to change the color much at all.