khargrove

If anyone has an older model with faded gelcoat, I highly recommend using something called Poliglow. In a few hours my boat went from extremely chalky to nearly showroom appearance.

You'll need some fine sandpapder. I used 1000 grit, and hand sanded everything above the bumper trim and inside the boat with soapy water. Take care not to damage decals.

The Poliglow kit comes with a strong soap that is used as a final step in prep. It's not a good degreaser, so scrub any areas that need it with Comet. I applied a touch of Clorox on a few stains, and they disappeared. Then I used the Poliglow wash.

The kit comes with an applicator that allows the Poliglow to be applied with virtually no marks. It dries quickly enough so that if you start on one part of the boat and work systematically, you can continue until 4 or 5 coats are applied.

After just one coat, you'll notice a very uneven appearance. Don't freak. Keep going and after two coats you'll see a remarkable change.

I didn't take any before pics, but if anyone's interested I can supply "after" pics. I didn't want to post this until I was confident that the finish was fairly durable. I'm in Texas, on the lake 2 to 3 times per week. I applied the finish over two months ago, and it seems to be durable. I've been careful to use mild soap when washing the boat. I would guess that I'll need to apply one or two touch up coats in another few weeks.

There are severeal places where you can buy Poliglow, and there is a nearly identiical kit called Vertglass. Both are around $60.

I'm a little confused about the carbon ring retrofit, etc. I have a '95 speedster. I just replaced the wear rings. On one side I used the closed cell weatherstripping described elsewhere in this website. I still have cavitation on that side.

So, I did notice a piece of fishing line, or perhaps a thread from a rope sticking out of the area where the shaft comes from the engine bay to the water intake area (viewed from under the boat). So, I'm guessing that there is a broken seal in that area that's allowing air to leak the impeller, or the home depot weatherstripping solution doesn't work all too well (by the way, I put black rtv on the outer edge of the weatherstripping before I reasassmbled everything, as I was afraid it wouldn't seal well.

Which all brings me to my question. Does the carbon ring retrofit that I've seen mentioned apply to my boat? If I need to replace a seal (I don't even know what it's actually called) where the shaft comes out of the hull, I would rather do it the best way possible....