RESTO Gelcoat restoration question

[MPower]

You wont get anywhere buffing gelcoat by hand. Gelcoat is hard stuff. What is the equivalent sandpaper grit of the rubbing compound you are using?

 

[motox25]

I'm not sure on the grit equivalent to be honest

 

[suke]

I agree with you on the buffer as well lamajama, it filled with grey residue after a couple of passes. I think unless someone has a better idea tomorrow I'm going to finish my one pass on the hull with the drill and wool buffer then hit the hull by hand, with the same heavy cut and using a paint scraper to scrape off the excess residue and hopefully ill eventually start to lighten the hull.

Clean your pads. Like Mpower said by hand will do nothing.

 

[suke]

I've always had a problem with restoring a gray color scheme like Motox25's 01 GTX. I have a 97 1/2 GSX with the gray color
and all I seem to do is darken the gray. I can bring a white top up real nice but gray has been a huge issue - plus it destroys
the buffer with gray residue. I also have a 01 GTX gray as well to restore so I'm keen to hear if gray is an issue for anyone else.

Gray is just as easy as every other color. Did 2 gray skis recently without issue.

Your GTX looks very similar to the RXP I did recently. It should shine up without issue with the right stuff/equipment. Not sure what pads you are using but gelcoat on the pads isn't much of a big deal. Unless it starts to fling everywhere. In which case change your pad and clean the old pad.

 

[MPower]

Like Suke said you need to clean the pads with warm water pretty often. When I did my XP restore I probably cleaned the pads 50 times and had yellow dust all over the garage. You have to cut through the dead gelcoat to reveal the clean stuff below. You can't bring back dead gelcoat.

 

[lamajama]

Like Suke said you need to clean the pads with warm water pretty often. When I did my XP restore I probably cleaned the pads 50 times and had yellow dust all over the garage. You have to cut through the dead gelcoat to reveal the clean stuff below. You can't bring back dead gelcoat.

MPower - the issue I have with the 97 1/2 GSX is trying to "match up" the gelcoat to where the PO had applied a bunch of stupid decals
(I prefer clean machines - or at least decals that make sense - not "bitchin" on a decal.....:facepalm. Anyway I am left with shiny gelcoat under the 5-6 decal areas against a dull flat lifeless grey. Would you be able to recommend a detailed step by step for this grey? What I mean is
" 1st - 800 wet sand, 2nd 1000 wet sand 3rd 1200, then XYZ product etc etc? Thanks for the info regardless!

 

[motox25]

Happy 4th everyone, today I finished up restoring my Gelcoat using the supplies JSG recommended and I am very pleased! I went over it 3 times with the heavy compound and twice with the medium and fine. I was concerned at first because the heavy compound turned my Gelcoat a very dark and dull color. However, after finishing up you can barely tell where the tags were unless you look closely. It would probably take some wet sanding to restore it to the exact shade but I'm happy with how it is. Thanks everyone for your help and advice, this forums the best!

After:

 

[lamajama]

Happy 4th everyone, today I finished up restoring my Gelcoat using the supplies JSG recommended and I am very pleased! I went over it 3 times with the heavy compound and twice with the medium and fine. I was concerned at first because the heavy compound turned my Gelcoat a very dark and dull color. However, after finishing up you can barely tell where the tags were unless you look closely. It would probably take some wet sanding to restore it to the exact shade but I'm happy with how it is. Thanks everyone for your help and advice, this forums the best!

After:

View attachment 20448

View attachment 20449

Looks great!

So Motox25 - you used the Meguiars heavy cut #4 or? What products exactly did you use? Sorry I'm confused on the "medium and
fine" as well.