Ok I'm A Nubee to boating and have a few questions

So I'm getting my 250DA ready to put in the water and i just have a few questions. Any help would be awesome.

1) When I wash my hull and run my hand across it's like someone poured skim milk on it and that is what is on my hand.

2) seem to have low oil pressure. I''m not sure if marine engines are different than auto's in that respect but when my durango with a 360 is at idle I'm at 40-50 and my boat is on the second line from the bottom.

Rob,
I going to say that what you are seeing on your hull is oxidation. Was the boat left unprotected from the weather? Use the search feature for oxidation & I'm sure you'll find plenty of elbow grease stories & remedies.

As for the oil presure I'll leave that to more qualified guys but they are going to need more info than "second line from the bottom". Give them a number & maybe some history (recent maintenance, hours, etc) & I bet they will be glad to help.

mwph said:

Rob,
I going to say that what you are seeing on your hull is oxidation. Was the boat left unprotected from the weather? Use the search feature for oxidation & I'm sure you'll find plenty of elbow grease stories & remedies.

As for the oil presure I'll leave that to more qualified guys but they are going to need more info than "second line from the bottom". Give them a number & maybe some history (recent maintenance, hours, etc) & I bet they will be glad to help.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the heads up. I'm gong to buy a proper oil pressure gauge so I can see what the actual pressure it.

Ok heres the oil press. answer. If it has oil pressure, don't worry too much. I had a lincoln that had LOW pressure. Not enough to turn the light out, but ran fine. However it did have loud wrist pins at light acceleration. (wonder why:lol:?)
I'd get an accurate reading of oil press. and go from there. Unless you are going out far, I'd not worry so much.

About the oil pressure - my pressure is always at the top 3/4 of the gauge when it's cold, about half way up when warm and cruising on plane, and on the bottom 2 or 3 lines when warm and at idle/no wake speeds.

I have about 3/4 when cold, 1/2 when warmed up, I wouldn't worry about to much...don't fix what's not broke..

You'll be fine. IIRC, spec is only about 10psi (warm, idle). Does the pressure change as you load it up?

83searay said:

I have about 3/4 when cold, 1/2 when warmed up, I wouldn't worry about to much...don't fix what's not broke..

Click to expand...

:thumbsup: He's right Rob - You will have enough to fix/upgrade in no time, trust me :smt089

robb212 said:

...when I wash my hull and run my hand across it's like someone poured skim milk on it and that is what is on my hand....

Click to expand...

Hi Rob,

Is the fiberglass dull looking? Is the stuff on your hand like chalk from a chalkboard?
If so, this would be fiberglass oxidation.

There is no one correct way to restore the showroom shine to a fiberglass boat.

There are many opinions and posts on how to get that showroom shine back. All will take work and it’s generally accepted that you can bring back that showroom shine on most boats if you are willing to spend the effort, some materials, but mostly effort.

Just to take this to the extreme, if you do a gelcoat repair in a spot, after allowing your patch to dry you are starting with a rough dull, bumpy gelcoat surface and end with a repair that can no longer be found. Since this can be done, getting an oxidized surface back to a shiny surface can also be done. Its not like paint on a car.

There are many opinions here at this forum and on the internet and my personal experience goes against what most members of this board suggest so please read all suggestions with a bit of skepticism, including mine.

Most members will suggest you buy a porter cable random orbital buffer. I don’t.

I suggest you buy a buffer that is not a random orbital plus a wool pad and follow a process of washing, drying, applying Meguiars #49 oxidation remover with the orbital, do not hold in one spot for long. There is some risk of burning or working your way thru the gel coat. This is the reason the random orbital fans suggest tools like the porter cable. The random movement virtually eliminates this risk. On the other hand, with a random orbital the work and effort go up so much, the results are so much less and the skill needed to not sit in one spot until you burn thru the fiberglass is so minor that I made the non-random orbital choice.

Wipe off with a terry towel (not micro-fiber, never mico-fiber, micro-fiber leaves swirl marks) then apply Meguiars Flagship Premium Marine Wax with the orbital buffer and wipe off with a fresh terry towel. Again, different forum members will have different recommendations.

If you don’t like my way, its OK. Its your boat and your choice. Before I became a parent I read a book by some guy named Dr Spock. Turns out its not about Star Trec. After reading this book I decided to raise my kids how I wanted to raise them then if someone gives me crap I find a book that supports my parenting style and give that to the person to justify my methods, not the other way around. No book is going to tell me how to raise my kids because there is no one correct way to raise kids. There is no one correct way to restore a oxidized fiberglass boat.

Restoring a oxidized fiberglass boat to its showroom shine is hard but rewarding work. Most of the techniques listed at this site will result in the desired final glossy look; it’s really a matter of how much work you are willing to do.

I've been with out internet access for a little bit but just wanted to thank you all for all the info. It has helped out a lot. I practiced cleaning up oxidation on my waverunner so I think I'm ready to tackle that hull. I just bought an orbital and all the wax and the color oxidation remover.