"Scuff" on Side of Gel Coat

WLR240

New Member
Oct 5, 2006
8
Burt Lake, Michigan
Due to a "miscomunication" between me and my first mate while docking my boat in a tight spot, a corner of a row boat bumped along side my blue gel coat of my 240 Sundeck which left a vertical mark about 7-8 inches long on my boat. The scrape appears to be on the surface (i.e., it's not a gouge or mark that I can feel). The "scrape" is a lighter color than the deep blue gel coat but I don't think that is paint from the row boat but rather some discoloration of my boat.

Any suggestions? Can I rub this out?

Thanks.

Bill
 
It should buff out. But, hard to say without seeing it. Be careful buffing it if you are not experienced you may have someone that is experienced handle this. But if you gouged the gelcoat. Then you may need a little gelcoat repair.
 
Sounds like a pretty straight forward issue. 3M Finesse works well for this when applied with a clean wool bonnet and a slow speed (1500 rpm) buffer. If you've not done this before, just go slowly and use even broad strokes without a lot of pressure. Follow up with a good coating of wax.
 
I have found that Mothers Metal Polish is an excellent way to rub out marks like that. It has just enough abrasive in it to take out those marks and leave your gel coat shiny afterwards. I would try something like that first.

Gel coat is very thick so even if it won't buff out with a polish or rubbing compound, you can probably sand it out with a very fine paper like a 1200 or 1800 grit followed by a polishing compound.
 
Wet Sand

I am not an expert in the terminology but if its nto a bad scuff, you can wet sand it, and then polish it back up again with a "finishing" compound.
I remember the 1st time i tried this. I had some fine scuffs where the fender had rubbed on the side. It scared the crap out of me wheni used the sandpaper. But the Finishing compound" brought it back to look like brand new ! ! It looked great and my fear factor went down after that.
 

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