Can i Buff and polish a poly paint?

[AleCiotti]

Hi guys, so my boat is made of 2 part poly paint and I need to get it to shine again.

I know that for gel coat, when it oxidises, the standard procedure is to buff - polish and wax.

But I'm worried that as the paint is thinner than the gel coat, if I try to use an abrasive paste (buff) it will rip it apart..

What do you think? have you had any experience cleaning poly paint?

Thanks

[stevead]

I've used Farecla G10 to polish the two-pack International Perfection paint on a strip planked hull, followed by G3 Wax.

[AleCiotti]

ok got it, so you didn't use a compound before that to clean deeper?

or was your boat in fairly good conditions so you just went with a finishing compound?

[stevead]

It was in fairly good condition beforehand.

Farecla have a wide range of products so if you think you need a coarser grade, then there are other options.

The question is do you have any scratches/marks where a fine compound will not be suitable or is it more a case of restoring the gloss to a dull surface?

[boatman61]

My Longbow was painted with Awlgrip and I polished it up using T-cut compound, a car product.
It was great on my gel coat topsides as well, folk found it hard to believe it was a 25yr old boat.

[psk125]

Read this thread first:https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...ip-287292.html
Then talk to your paint's manufacturer and see what they say.

[GordMay]

If you read the aforementioned thread*, “Compounding / Polishing Awlgrip”, you’ll find that AkzoNobel [Awlgrip] recommends against using any abrasives, scratch pads, or polishing compounds#; but many CFers claim to have successfully done so.
* ➥ https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...ip-287292.html
# ➥ https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...ml#post3912278

[AleCiotti]

Ok thanks, i won't buff then, i will try to polish maybe? clean and re-wax.

hopefully it restores a bit of the shine.

[stevead]

I guess this post is somehow related to your other post about repairing the hull.

I think you need to contact the designer/builder and confirm both the method of construction and the paint that was used.

The general consensus was that your boat is of modern composite cold moulded construction, using diagonally planked timber, sheathed outside (and probably inside) with layers of fibreglass/epoxy, faired, primed and painted. You may want to avail yourself of the Gudegon Brothers book on boat construction to understand how your boat was constructed and how to repair it. With luck they may be minor surface blemishes and you will then just need to grind back to the fibreglass, apply fairing compound, fair, prime and paint.

For the paint, you really need to confirm with the yard what was used. If it is Awlgrip, then heed the comments made by others. I personally have no experience with Awlgrip.

If it is your normal two-pack polyurethane paint, then similar to modern automotive paints, you should be able to use a fine finishing compound to restore the gloss. For your repairs, your biggest difficulty will be colour matching. Even if you're able to obtain the original colour code, your original paint will have faded over time. Unless you find a really good professional, the repairs will probably be obvious , even to the untrained eye.

[AleCiotti]

Hi steve, yes the posts are indeed related.

First of all, thank you very much for the attention and the detailed post.

Just 2 days ago I was at the shipyard where the boat was built to speak in person with the builder, since the boat has been repainted he wasn't sure what the exact brand was but he confirmed it's a 2 part polyurethane.

He told me to do exactly what you just said, the only problem is as you also said, matching the colours, he advised to ask for professional painters to come and detect the colour code so I can have it custom-made.

I got advised multiple times to read Gougeon Brothers on boat building, and I have the book, just never had the time to really dig into it as it talks about a very wide spectrum of repairs and builds, but will definitely look into it soon.

My plan, for now, is just to polish and then fix the cracks in late September when I bring the boat to his shipyard, maybe put some penetrating epoxy in the exposed wood areas to limit water ingress and possible decay.

Again, Thanks!