Getting rid of oxidization on my McGregor

[charleshagen]

I have tried Presta rubbing compound and cutting polish. I've tried McGuire's. It seems like nothing is getting rid of the oxidation

[NiceAft]

Which Presta compound did you use?

I must confess that I am not familiar with the company, but having finished furniture for many years, it seems that this should be a multi process effort.

Start with a grittier compound and then milder and milder products. Then use a good wax.. that last sentence always starts a barrage of different wax products people swear by. Me, plain old creamy turtle works quite well. Others go to other products. Whatever.

Good luck.

[dlandersson]

I have good results with 3M Marine Wax Restorer

[Russ]

Simple. You need the right tools.

First, you need a rotary polisher with high RPMs. A great investment. You'll thank me later.


A good quality lambs wool pad


3m Fiberglass restorer and wax


Dab 5-6 dots on the pad and hit the hull with 2,000 rpm until it shines. It will spin wool and polish everywhere, but you will see magic happen before your eyes.

I've used same to restore oxidized headlights. Removed keyed scratches from my son's truck. It will make that hull shine like brand new.

[dlandersson]

Ditto

[pitchpolehobie]

Simple. You need the right tools.

First, you need a rotary polisher with high RPMs. A great investment. You'll thank me later.


A good quality lambs wool pad


3m Fiberglass restorer and wax


Dab 5-6 dots on the pad and hit the hull with 2,000 rpm until it shines. It will spin wool and polish everywhere, but you will see magic happen before your eyes.

I've used same to restore oxidized headlights. Removed keyed scratches from my son's truck. It will make that hull shine like brand new.

Agree w the 3m restorer/wax. My only gripe is that my polisher didn't get into small nooks in my cockpit easily. Maybe I'll work on that next time I'm not sailing all summer...

[Massey]

I started with some oxidization remover from West Marine with mixed results. It looks like that would be good for new and light oxidization. Water Lilly had heavy, old oxidization. The Meguires Gelcoat polish did the trick with my buffer. I would not attempt this by hand, and you need a true buffer not one of those orbital wax applicators from the auto part stores. I got my buffer from Harbor Freight, it’s the variable speed model (the one you want too) and I used a wool cutting pad on it. Here is a pic of the progress.

Mind you, this is strictly buffing, no sanding.




Another option which takes a bit more work would be to sand the oxidize off with 2000g wet sandpaper then polish back to a nice shine. Again a buffer will yield the best results.

[dlandersson]

I'll be glad to let you practice on my X this fall until you are proficient

Agree w the 3m restorer/wax. My only gripe is that my polisher didn't get into small nooks in my cockpit easily. Maybe I'll work on that next time I'm not sailing all summer...

[OverEasy]

Lots of elbow grease

[OverEasy]

Just had mixed results when we had OverEasy in the boat yard…
The yard is the best in the area and do a lot of hull restoration work.
Our Mac26X is from 2001.
It has been stored outside for much if not all of its life and covered in the winters to the best of our knowledge.

The below the rub rail polished out reasonably well.
The above the rub rail was a different story.

The yard tried a section only to find that polishing wasn’t going to be cost effective for us at this time. Too oxidized and pitted. The yard estimated that given the age of the top gel coat that doing nothing at this time and just keeping it clean was the better path for now

They did say that if we wanted shiny that there were two options to consider:
1st - Sand down the flat surfaces and then retry the polishing and buffing. No guarantees that the sanding wouldn’t ‘blow through’ the gel coat nor possibly damage the anti skid areas adjacent.
2nd - Clean/Dewan/Paint…. … Hmmmm…. Cost would be less and risk would be less and durability would be about the same or better. Plus the option of doing something unique at a reasonable cost that would still be below 1st option.

Yard said the top gel coat, while adequate, wasn’t very thick to start with. Minimizing any removal would be better to protect the underlying fiberglass structure surfaces. They made mention that many boats just have primed and painted surfaces and they last reasonably well, generally as well as gel coated surfaces over time.

We decided to think on it for now as there is no rush. Maybe when we have to get new bottom paint in a couple of years from now.

Just something to think about …..

Best Regards,
Over Easy

[pitchpolehobie]

I'll be glad to let you practice on my X this fall until you are proficient

Agree w the 3m restorer/wax. My only gripe is that my polisher didn't get into small nooks in my cockpit easily. Maybe I'll work on that next time I'm not sailing all summer...

Sure just drop the boat and title off here I'll take care of it nooo problem.


Overeasy- my 02 was chalky and the 3M restorer and wax gave it a nice reflective finish. My boat sat in the sun for 8 years without a cover before I took it over. I can't imagine that yours is any worse off based on the pics. I used a polisher from harbor freight and big pads. Took about 8 ish hours for the hull and about 4 for the deck that still has room for improvement.