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compound for 89 four winns
Old 05-20-2014, 08:49 PM   #1
brandons
 
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Default compound for 89 four winns

I am picking up an 89 four winns 18 foot open bow. This is a one owner boat that has never been done with compound. As you can imagine it has some fade.

I have a flex 3401 and wool pad. I also have foam pads.

I have menzerna fg400 and wolfgang ubercompound.

Will either of these get the job done or do I need the marine 31 stuff.

Once I do it once I will keep it sealed and may never have to compound it again. I also am considering ordering a dewalt 849x if the flex won't be enough. I love my flex on cars but am concerned it may not be the right tool for this job.

If I can use the flex and the compound I have that would be great!

Thanks for any input. I have lots of experience with both a rotary or the flex, I just don't have a rotary anymore.


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Old 05-22-2014, 10:44 AM   #2
Mike Phillips
 
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Default Re: compound for 89 four winns

Hi Brandon,

Welcome to Marine31Online.com!


If the boat has a lot of oxidation you're going to want a rotary buffer. I use the Flex PE14 with 7.5" wool cutting pads because it's lightweight and quiet. The DeWALT 849X is a great full size rotary buffer but the weight, bulk and noise will wear you out.


I'd recommend reading through these most recent write-up I wrote about how to machine wetsand oxidized gel-coat. Sure you can compound it but it's a lot easer to sand off all the old, dead oxidized gel-coat then to push a rotary buffer into the side of the hull for hours.

How to wetsand, cut and buff a gel-coat boat


As to your other questions....

Rotary Buffer
Yes the Uber Compound and the FG400 will work with a wool pad on a rotary buffer for heavy oxidation.


Flex 3401
You'll have to do some testing with your wool pad on the Flex 3401 to see if it's working for you. These are both great compounds but they are for clearcoat paints and as such the abrasives are nothing like the abrasives used for most marine compounds and polishes with the marine versions being a LOT more aggressive in their ability to cut.


Where the Flex 3401 excels in boat detailing is for boats with only mild to light oxidation. Use the Flex 3401 for this condition boat with a PFW Purple Foamed Wool Pad and a one-step cleaner/wax and you can remove oxidation, polish to a high gloss and leave the surface sealed without instilling holograms like a wool pad on a rotary buffer will do.


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Old 05-31-2014, 07:27 PM   #3
brandons
 
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Default Re: compound for 89 four winns

Thanks Mike,

I ordered a dewalt 849x to do the compounding. I will polish with my flex. Thanks again for your input. I have learned a ton from the forums over the last couple years. I have been detailing for 20 years and thought I knew it all before I found the forums.

Do you think megs 205 or menzerna polish powerfinish that I bought from autogeek would be adequate to follow up with before I seal it?
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Old 06-02-2014, 08:31 AM   #4
Mike Phillips
 
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Default Re: compound for 89 four winns

Quote:
Originally Posted by brandons View Post

Thanks Mike,

I ordered a DeWALT 849x to do the compounding. I will polish with my flex. Thanks again for your input. I have learned a ton from the forums over the last couple years.

I have been detailing for 20 years and thought I knew it all before I found the forums.
Nice to hear that... I wish discussion forums had been around when I first started detailing!

One thing about our forums, we keep them both helpful and friendly. I personally won't stay on a forum that's neither helpful or friendly and it's the leadership of a forum that gives the forum it's "personality", good or bad.



Quote:
Originally Posted by brandons View Post

Do you think megs 205 or menzerna polish powerfinish that I bought from autogeek would be adequate to follow up with before I seal it?
Yes, either of these should work fine. Test both a foam cutting pad and a foam polishing pad and see which is giving you better results.


I know it's normal in the car world to finish out with a soft foam pad but I have experienced that gel-coats tend to like a harder foam pad even for finishing.

For example in this thread,

How to wetsand, cut and buff a gel-coat boat


We did the finish polishing using a blue 6.5" Hybrid pad on Flex 3401's.


Teamwork
Check out this shot, first there's John polishing up front, then Jay in the middle, followed by Chris!




John




Jay




Chris




Chris can always be trusted to do the job right!





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