Confused on PC 7424 vs Rotary for BM/PP

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watson524

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Joined
Mar 24, 2008
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29669
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322
Hi all,

I have been reading and reading and am still confused. Background: 1987 Chap 198XL that was my parents, never really done anything on the hull other than washed, heavily oxidized. I got some 3M Marine Restorer and Wax and applied with my Porter Cable 7424XP Dual Action in a 2x2 section. Ok, not great (no polish yet). As I read more here, I want to try the Buff Magic/Pro Polish combo. From what I'm reading, the PC 7424XP might not be the best thing to use on it. Is that right? I'm reading about the 7" HF unit and thinking about picking one up. Will that work for the BM and PP? I have the DA because I use it on cars and didn't want to go with a rotary because of possible paint burn. What speed would I use the HF unit on? Seems like it's a lower RPM than what's available on my PC unit. I also have a black and decker mouse unit. Can that be used with a wool pad for anything?

thanks in advance!
 
Watson524,
You are correct. The 7424 won't do the trick for this job. The HF circular polisher is more than capable of handling it with the right product and pads. If it's heavily oxidized then you will have to start with something more aggressive than Buff Magic, like a rubbing compound and a wool pad. Follow that up with the Buff Magic with a yellow wool pad and then Pro Polish by hand or a foam pad. You should get a nice finish out of that.

Hope this helps.
 
Thanks for the info. Is there a particular rubbing compound that you would recommend?
 
Watson,

How bad is the gelcote? Faded real bad? If so you are going to have to get some heavy duty compound or maybe even wet sand it.

Until you remove all the dead gelcote off the top you will be fighting it year after year.

I've seen wonders done with wet sanding with a PC 7424. Old boats come back to life with that machine and wet sandpaper, I kid you not. You start with a high paper like 400 and go all the way to 2000, then you can use a good compound to finish it off.

You have to know what you are doing but if you do it can come out great.
 
It's pretty chalky but I've seen boats that are worse. I'm not necessarily looking for showroom quality or even brand new. Just nice. I actually took the boat over this weekend to a local shop and got a quote to have it wet sanded but I didn't think for our needs it was worth the $1,500. I'm not a boat freak, I like to go out now that I'm able to take the boat out by myself and such. We've owned it since new and it has only 170 hours on it, I kid you not.... Looks real nice when wet but fades when dry. How thick is gel coat? How hard is it for someone like me (novice in this respect) to learn to do the wet sanding and not screw something up?
 
If you use the Porter Cable I'd say you don't have to be an expert.

I've wet sanded by hand, but with the PC7424 it comes out much better.

Try one spot and see how it comes out.

Or

you can get some Super duty rubbing compound and try that.
 
I think I'll start with the rubbing compound until I'm feeling brave. Is that a brand name?
 
3M makes a product called Super Duty Rubbing Compound, it's red, it's harsh, you can buy 32oz size bottle, you will have to step it down with a fine compound after the red stuff.
 
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