Boat gel coat restore?
 

What type of products are out there for gel coat restoration? Just bought a new used 2001 x star that needs a lot of work. Or is it too far gone. Should i just wrap it?

I think you can probably pull some life back out of the gelcoat with some work. I went to West Marine and got some 3M Rubbing Compound and Finesse It II Finishing material and followed them up with a good wax. It took my faded black gelcoat to a shine again. Also picked up a 7" polisher at Harbor Freight for really cheap. It's going to take time and work, but I don't doubt that you can clean that boat up nice.

Just needs a compounding and polishing. It is pretty bad so maybe wetsand first. I did like Chance with the 3m running compound and 3m Finesse It II polish and finished off with 3m Ultra Performance past wax. I used a Makita 9227c polisher, which is very pleasant to use and worth every penny.

Mine was nowhere near that bad, but particularly oxidized on the transom and had some light scratched from docks and such. All the oxidation came out great and most of the scratches did too, though a couple that were deeper are still there though not nearly as noticeable. Get a polisher and some supplies and try first on a smaller area that particularly faded, maybe a couple square feet on the transom. See how it comes out and if it's taking too much reapplications of compound (expect 3-5 reapplications on that pad for each area that's badly oxidized) then you might have to wetsand it first to save time compounding.

I would say whatever you do don't wrap it. Wrap is cheesy and ghetto in my opinion. Your boat has good gel that should come back to a real nice color with a bit of work. Worst case you might have to take the stickers/decals off and replace those, depends on how decent they are and how careful you are. I think it'd look good naked with just the Mastercraft near the back and on the transom. Or throw on whatever decals suit your tastes, either way would look good.

Aquabuff 1000 is what you want for a boat that oxidized.I have used the 3m compound and it works well but not as good as the aquabuff. When I bought my boat the black was faded to a grey and Auabuff brought it back to a high gloss black. I did a 3 steps. 1.aquabuff 1000 grit 2.finessit 2. 3.Wax good news is boat can be saved. Just spend some money on a good buffer the right pads and right products and you will be amazed. Oh yeah its going to take some elbow grease too but it will be worth it in the end.

Thank you for the advice.

Kevin do you have any before and after pictures of your work?