Polishing after Gelcoat repair

I am finishing up a Gel-coat repair and I will be posting my results shortly. ( it not going to be as Nice as Grant West's repair, but I'm very happy with the Results)

I have a Question on Polishing the surface and tring to get it back to a high gloss:

The issue is when I move from the Compound to the polish it seems to hazes the Surface?

Products I’m am using are all Meguiar's
Polisher - Pro Dual Action Variable Speed G11v2
Compound - Oxidation Remover #49 with a foam cutting Pad, speed 5-6( has shine with slight Haze) and any swirl marks are gone.
Polish - High Gloss #45 with a Foam Polish Pad, Speed 4-5(at this stage it hazes the surface)

I have tried re-compound the surface and re-polishing 3 times now with the same results.

I called the Local detail Supply house and they suggested going to a more aggressive Compound Meguiars #67 and then skipping the polish stage.

I would appreciate any suggestions.

Thanks

3M Finesse It with a foam polish pad and slow speeds will return the gloss. I've used this combo on several boats. Even works on a black gel coat.

I second the 3M Finesse It, great product.

You really need a rotary polisher for compounding.The DA isn't aggressive enough to get the sanding scratches out..

X3 Finesse It. Learned about that on WW.

It sounds like you are not getting enough heet to rub out the scratches and polish the finish thats why its white. I agree u need a rotery polisher a DA will not do it EVER.
The da is good for putting on qnd taking of wax ect but will never polish out compound scratches ect.
Also the wool pad works great for compound. The foam works great for finess it and glaze
so make shure u use the right pad for the right polishing material.
Imo compound would tear up a foam pad and not create the correct amount of heet ect

Chris, a little off topic, but I would still love to buy your leftover gelcoat off you.

The Stratches are really Swirls, nothing even close to 2000 grit Sand paper which were all removed Very easly with the DA Polisher and Compound. It looks very good after I compound a shine with a slight haze. it looks ready to go the the next step, Polishing. That is the Problem it never gets any better. I am comparing it to sections of the Boat that have never been Polished and they have true high Gloss to them.

I have tried Slow speed, High Speed, light pressure, heavy Presure, New pads, Lots of heat, very little heat ,on and on...Very frustating

It ends up the same everytime, a Shine with a slight Haze on both white and red parts of the Boat. The other strange part is the 8" wide Black Stripe Looks Perfect like a Mirror.

The best finish I seem to be able to gets is using Compound and Polish using the a Type Cutting Pad ( a Diifferant pad each product). Polishing with the Polishing Pad seems to haze the surface More?

As for Heat - The DA Polisher can create a lot of heat, if apply same pressure that i would use on a car's clear coat I think I could melt the Gel Coat if I moved any slower.

on the 3M Finesse it Product, do me the the Compound or Finial Finish?

As for the left over Gel Coat (paste) let me know how Much you need and I will gets some small Containers, I think Andy Graham also needed some.

Thanks again for the Help

I went and bought 3M Finesse it II glaze Same result.

So that means it not the Product it is Me or the Process.

I just did a Small section by hand using a terry Cloth and that looks Much better. Now if I could get the same results with have to do the Whole thing by hand.

So maybe I need to get a rotary Polisher or maybe there is a differant Pad that will work better.

Got it figured out - I put a synthetic polishing Bonnet over the foam Pad. ( it looks like hair) and used 3M Finesse II Gaze. Worked Perfectly, Super high gloss mirror finish. It took 1 hour to finish after spending 10 hours trying to figure it out.

Now I'm looking at doing the rest the boat becuase this side looks so Good

Glad you were able to figure it out. Let see some pics of the repair!!!

Regaurding the gel coat, I have no idea how much I would actually need. I have quite a few blemishes I would like to fix. I would be willing to take all your leftovers or as much as you're willing to get rid of, just let me know.

I was going to PM you but can't figure out how to do that, email me at btbpreston@yahoo.com and let me know about buying the gelcoat. Thanks.

Chris,

Indeed I'll take some of that Silver Cloud when you're ready. A 35mm film case would be just enough. Where did you get that "synthetic polishing bonnet"?