Resurrecting the Gel Coat on my 1979 Centurion Jet Boat with a Polish and Detail
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- čas přidán 25. 08. 2024
- In this video I show you the steps and process that I took to detail and restore the the Gel Coat on my 1979 Centurion Jet Boat.
The gel coat was in relatively good shape, but chalky and very dirty. It was flat in appearance and lacked any shine. This boat has been in my family for over 25 years, and I know that during that time it has never had a polish! Now its time to get it taken care of!
Since Gel Coat is very, very hard compared to standard automotive finishes I was able to be quite aggressive with my section of tools. I chose to use Mequiar's M105 heavy cut polish on a Makita 9227-C polisher with a 8" wool pad. After the initial polish I went back over it with a 6" orbital polisher with a microfiber cutting pad & 3D Speed polish to get into the finer areas, and to work out some of the scratches.
Once I had all of the Gel Coat polished out I wanted to try out the Star Brite Marine Polish. I saw that this had good reviews online and was curious to try it out for myself. After using it is seemed more like a wax, rather than a polish. I did not see any significant differences in the finish after applying it. Although it may help maintain and protect my freshly polished Gel Coat in the long run. Time will tell. We do walk on, and spend a lot of time on the bow of the boat, so I was concerned with how slick the surface would be once it was wet. I will say that I was very pleased with the results after applying the Star Brite Polish.
Overall I was very happy with how the finish on the Gel Coat came out. It made such a different to the overall look of the boat.
M105 Polishing compound
www.meguiars.c...
3D Speed
3dproducts.com...
Star Brite Marine Polish
www.starbrite.c...
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Hello Sir, I've found watching your project very refreshing. I am restoring a 78 Kona 21' Day Cruiser with the same engine you are working with. My background has been making boats longer for many years. Now it's time to work on one of my own. I'm going to add 4" to this one. I was going to only move the engine back 3' to help have the boat run smoother and not have it jump out of the water as much. It's very nice watching someone do an excellent job of bringing a boat like this back to life as you are doing. I don't have a lot of time on BBC, but with your help and step by step videos, you're making a nice resource to come back to for help. Thank you very much. You do excellent work! John in Central Washington State.
Thank you for responding back. My son is now wanting to build a boat. He was just a little boy when we had that boat. He will enjoy seeing what a great job you have done. If you ever want to know a little history of the boat let me know, happy to tell you.
Absolutely! I would love to hear everything that you know about the boat and its history!
~ Nick
I was the 2nd owner, I bought it from a buddy who raced it some when I was racing. It originally had a 454 with a gale banks twin turbo set up and nitros. It ran 86 mph with 13.8 et. When I quit racing I bought it, he kept his engine. I put a mild 396 in it and a stock dominator pump on it. We skied and played with it for years. Then I sold it and got another boat. It changed hands a few times then I lost track of it until I saw it on your video's.
Thanks for sharing that! It makes sense, especially since the old 396 still had the Gale Banks oil pan on it. Is your last name *******? If so, it was my father **** who bought the boat from you... Small world.
~ Nick
@@AutoTechNick yes that's me, that oil pan was built by me and my dad. It's a copy of a dan Olson 12qt. Circle racing pan. We patterned it from the pan that was on his sanger flat bottom PONY KEG. I used that pan on a sanger hydro that I had. Yes it's a small world. You are doing a great job on that restoration.
Hi Nick, nice job on the centurion jet boat. That used to be my boat. I sold my race boat and my family had a lot of fun with that boat. Nice restore.
How cool that you found these videos! I am glad you can see that the boat has been well taken care of. Just like it was for your family, the boat was great for me growing up. And now my kids are dying for me to finish it and get it back in the water!
~ Nick
interesting reviving gelkoat this is something not always is showcased around here
good stuff!
This was my first time detailing Gel Coat. I have plenty experience with standard automotive finishes. I was very surprised at how hard this finish is. You can be very, very aggressive and not have to worry about damaging the finish. It was an interesting learning experience.
@@AutoTechNick thats what i was noticing while watching so it was sort of a revelation to me too!!
reminds me of "guitar" finishes lol
All I know is, watch your step on the bow after polishing! 😂. We can’t even get on the bow after being in the water without sliding off the bow. It is slick!
Yeah, polishing certainly doesn’t improve the grip on the wet surface!!
I use the Scotchgard 3M Marine Liquid Wax 09062 after polishing. Really like it. Smells good too. That gel coat looks amazing.
Thanks.. how slick is that wax when wet? I am fine with polishing my gel coat, but I do not wax it for that exact reason.
~ Nick
The boat looks really good ,but if it were me I’d take the motor cover off to show the motor off
Where can I get that windshield or something like it? I have a 1978 19ft sabre jet and I want to put a windshield like that on it I think.
This boat has always had the windshield installed. However, the original did break in half years ago. We took it off and had a local plastic shop make us a new one. They used the old one as a template. They had to heat it up and unbend it, making it flat to pull an accurate pattern.
I would imagine a local plastic shop could get something similar made for your boat.
I used to not like the way it looked. But I now greatly appreciate it, as it keeps the water off your lap when a big wake comes over the bow.
~ Nick
Yeah, removing the vents when there is quite literally zero need for it as the fuel system is 100% out in the open
Auto products are terrible for gel coat. Stick to marine products. Yes Maguires are amazing for enamels but suck ass on gel coat. Please use a clean pad before you touch your boat
What qualities of the automotive products make them terrible for gelcoat?