Making an old boat new again

I have a couple of "spring cleaning" issues with my boat that I need to fix. First, what's the best method for getting the filmy layer off the boat. My first instinct is to just buff it, but somebody had once rambled on a multi-part process that sounded thorough. Are there certain products anyone could advise?

Secondly, the teak in my boat looks pretty old. Someone had told me that oil would bring it right back to life, but should I clean it first? (pressure wash maybe)

Thirdly, the teak swim step is cracked on one plank at the end. I was told you could remove each plank individually, so can I just replace that one piece? Where do I find a replacement piece?

Thanks for your help. I am planning to do a lot more to the boat (85 Supra Sunsport) so I hope to post pics of the transformation. New Engine this weekend!

Best method is buffing with a high-speed circular polisher. I used 3M superduty compound followed by finesseIT and wax. But be careful, some of the earlier boats used paint for their graphics and you could burn through it with heavy compound. This is best done by someone with experience (or at least have them around for guidance). There are some products around that supposedly bring gel back to life w/o polishing, but I'm skeptical of any magic products.

Yes, you should clean and oil your teak. If its really far gone you can sand it before cleaning as long as you finish with 220 or greater. After sanding, clean with a BRASS brush and some teak cleaner. Follow with a few coats of teak oil. Teak is soft so its not recommended you use a pressure washer. If you do, do not get too close and only go with the grain.

You can purchase teak for repairs from specialty lumber stores and boating supply stores. It is pricey though.

Good luck with the project. Old boats are a lot of work, but they can be very gratifying.

Here is a link for the cleaning of my teakplatform
http://correctcraftfan.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=4518&PN=1&TPN=1
I sanded using 100 grit then I pressure washed it and scrubbed it with teak cleaning solution from west marine. And let it dry for 2 days and have applied 3 coats of teak oil so far and will have 6 total when i am done.

as far as cleaning up the film here is another link http://www.2froeses.com/sn2001/

Hope these will help you out

Never pressure wash Teak

Why?

Pressure washing removes the oils from the wood

oh. My platform had more mold, and green stuff than anything else so i pressure washed it at an angle. I didnt go straight at it so hopefully that makes a difference.

Isnt the point to replace the old oils with new teaking oil?

Pressure washing also removes all of the soft wood and lives the ridges. To make it comfortable and cleanable you need to sand it down again.

You don't want to replace the oil, you want to replenish the oils that are naturally in teak.
So you add more oil.

Light sanding might be preferred, and yes, replenishing the oils.

i see. Fair enough. Well i now know better for next time. It would have been such a pain in the as$ to get that initial layer of mold build up off of the platform without the pressure washer.

I dont want to change the topic of this thread to much, but i am doing the same thing with my boat right now where i am working on the exterior and such. I am wondering how good compounding is? I am removing the decals from my boat and they are obviously leaving a shaddow since they are 20 years old. There is not to much fading on the boat but enough that it is noticable. I plan on compounding a section to see how well that does and if i have to i will wetsand it. I am not going to wetsand the white portion of the boat only the stripe on the side of the boat. Here is a picture of what it looks like with the graphics on. The second picture is of the rear with all the oxidation. Also it shows how bad my teak platform was before. I will try to get some pictures up of what my platform looks after having sanded and such later on tonight or tomorrow

here is my transom in the middle of the compound stage (no sanding, just compound).


and done

wow that is beautiful. Im very impressed that you can get that kind of shine back with compounding. Did you use a high speed buffer or just do it by hand?

How many hours do you think it took you? And what kind of compounding stuff did you use?

(Message edited by wakeboardin2k4 on March 26, 2007)

About the teak swimstep...has anyone ever seen a teak swim step that maybe has a "cap" or border to it? I'd like to replace the last plank to make it new, but maybe it would be cheaper...maybe even look better, to frame it with another material. I can picture this teak "picture" framed in aluminum or a blue fiberglass to match the boat. Can this be done, or would it even look good???

Ryan, what type of tower do you have? It looks great! (Did you have to get a new bimini? That looks like the standard 2001 bimini.)

Eric,
3M superduty compound and a high speed polisher. Took me the better part of a day (6-7hrs) for the polish and wax, but it was also 90+° outside....had to do very small sections.

Josh, thanks, the tower is just a Joystick universal. The bimini is a standard 3-bow for the 2001 that I cut down and modified to fit on the tower.

I don't have any pictures at the moment but I also used a variable speed rotary buffer with a wool pad and the 3M Fiberglass Cleaner Wax/Compound found at WalMart. My transom was the only part of my boat faded from the way it sat under a canopy for all of its life. I used masking tape over the vinyl lettering on the transom, then I didn't have to be as "careful" around the letters with the buffer.

You'll know you did the job when your pad turns the color of your boat! From what I hear, gelcoat on boats is pretty thick so taking a small layer off is not a problem. I would recommend keeping the buffer at a lower speed with compound, then follow up your work with a finishing polish and a foam pad.

i second the 3m super heavy duty rubbing compound. we have a ton of boats in my family and we all swear by this stuff, followed by teflon wax or four seasons hard wax.

Hey Eric,

Have you removed the decals yet? Just curious what you used. I am going to redo the graphics on my boat is well and it too is 20+ years old. I saw a thread where someone mentioned razor blade and goo gone, but I've heard there are special drill attachments that you can use to make it go quicker...

Yes there are special drill attachments. Local automotive paint store should have them. I used a plastic/nylon stick and raked of the sticker then used Goof Off for the glue residue.

Jeremy,

I am half way through removing my decals. It is a long and tedious project to do it in a way that wont mess up your gelcoat. I took one dig at my gel coat early on when i was going fast now i go much slower.

Everyone claims that you should use a blow dryer...i have used one for my project at the beginning and use it less and less now because i don't think it helps that much. I am just very very careful. I take a razor blade and put it on one of those retractable extention things((no idea what they are called)) and i bend the outside tips till they break so the actual surface area of my blade is maybe an inch. Which sounds like nothing but works quite well. For the stripes along the side I just do a straight path as long as possible before the vinyl decal stripe breaks. Clear off my razor and keep going. For the actual letters like "ski nautique" i will warm them up and then do them in strips almost like i am shaving the decal off. I learned that trying to do the whole letter at once is really hard and causes you to push very hard and if that razor slips then you have a good chance of scratching your gelcoat.

Ya, there are special drill attachments. I never found one or really searched for one. I figured they must be somewhat rough in order to rip off the decals as people say they do and i just couldnt trust myself with my gel coat and a high speed attachment that might mess up my gel coat. I could very well be wrong about them but i had no experience with them and did not want to risk it.

I use goof off to remove the glue. 20 year old glue takes some serious work to get off. Its a huge pain but when its off they look really nice, even with the shaddow of the number still in the gel. I just bought the super duty compounding stuff so hopefully i will be able to do that by friday.

Bad thing about that magic teak oil Art, is that it never dries. You track it into your boat carpet, it atracts dirt and destroys your carpet. That's why all those hardcore old ski dudes let their platforms turn white. Looks fine when wet, who cares. I used marine varnish on mine, with some non skid additive, good to go for a couple of seasons.

As far as removing decals, I removed some and had quite a bit of glue residue behind. The best product I found was OOPS! from the local hardware store.

Here are some pictures of my platform. First two pictures are after having sanded and washed it and about to apply the first coat. Third picture is first coat. And then in the post after this I have more pictures of my platform. As the platform gets darker that is because there have been more coats applied. I just applied the 4th coat. You can see where my platform started out at just a few pictures up.

Also i have been working on removing the decals from my boat and am almost done. I will go take some pictures now and upload them




(Message edited by wakeboardin2k4 on March 28, 2007)

What did you use to stain your swim deck?

A lot of people use different things. This was my first time cleaning/teaking a swim platform so I didnt spend the extra money on great products. I got this from west marine. 22 bucks for the whole kit.

Oh, and your not staining the swim deck. Your oiling it. Im not saying that to pick at you or to be a jerk, im saying it because it makes a big difference if you purchase teaking oil, or some kind of stain.

Ok i need advice again. I have purchased the compound and the wax, but i could not find any polish. I went to west marine in search of polish should i go to an auto parts place for it?

I used a product called Teak Guard by All Products on a swimdeck and it's a great system. I was able to clean it and get 4 coats on in one evening after work. The kit comes with everything- cleaner, brass wool, and plenty of sealer for added coats. You don't have to strip it to touchup damaged or worn areas- just put another coat on. It's about $40 for the kit shipped to you. http://www.allguardproducts.com/