I am by no means the expert on this, so I hope others will weigh in . . . But I'll repeat what I know, and hopefully get it right . . . Rubbing compound is a mild abrasive suspended in a paste, a paste much like liquid wax for a car, and is a safe way to take the oxidation out of gelcoat . . . It comes in degrees of abrasiveness and is available at marine outlets . . . It can be applied with an orbital polisher, but one should take care not to use too much pressure and "burn" the gelcoat, which I believe will yellow when damaged by heat. Penetrol, and I'm not sure of the spelling, is a paint additive . . . I think for enamel paint . . . I believe it's a solvent, but someone please correct me if I'm wrong . . . I believe it is available as "Marine Penetrol", but I've used the stuff available at any hardware store . . . It is applied, left very briefly, and wiped off, leaving a rich shine in the gelcoat . . . It's most impressive use I've seen is Larry Yake's yellow-hulled M17, Tullamore . . . Vertglass was one brand of miracle fiberglass restorer . . . I don't know if it's available anymore . . . Poliglow is another brand, one, I believe, that received high marks from Practical Sailor magazine. I'm not sure what the miracle restorers do, if they're like rubbing compound and wax in one or what, but Poliglow would basically used to preserve the gelcoat's finish, like wax . . . I think . . . Please correct me if I'm wrong . . . I believe these miracle restorers tout that they can be used on oxidized gelcoat, skip the rubbing compound, and produce good results, but we had much better success with Vertglass after using rubbing compound first . . . These are three steps I'm considering, but there's more than one way to skin this cat, and West Marine sells complete kits for gelcoat care . . . I think Star Bright caries a variation of every gelcoat, metal and wood preservative/restorer conceivable . . . All the products make magnificent claims . . . But I saw pics of Tod's Busca after the Poliglow, don't know what steps he used before, and it was very impressive . . . ----- Original Message ----- From: Rick Langer To: montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com Sent: Tuesday, January 25, 2005 9:54 AM Subject: i was thinkin' . . . too Craig, My blue hull is oxidized too and I'd like to bring it back. I have a 9" compounder and a Cyclo random orbital polisher which I've used to polish a vintage Airstream trailer. I'm guessing that polishing fiberglass is a lot easier than aluminum, but I'm a bit confused i.e. rubbing compound, Penetrol(?), Poliglow, Vertglass. I wonder if you could give us a brief tutorial on bringing back and keeping the shine on our boats? BTW, my boat has repaired gouges, but the color match is so bad that I wish they were left alone. I went through a similar thing when polishing my Airstream. The experts advised me to leave the gouges and large scratches alone and just polish them, kind of adds character. I think they were right. Thanks, Rick Langer M15 #337 Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2005 23:29:50 -0500 From: "Craig F. Honshell" <chonshell@ia4u.net> Subject: M_Boats: i was thinkin' . . . To: "For and about Montgomery Sailboats" <montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> Message-ID: <009401c50296$8349d0d0$3241b3cf@D89X0M51> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" . . . this spring that I'd like to buff out my hull's oxidation, then go over it completely with Penetrol, then finish it with Poliglow or comparable miracle restorative . . . I think we used "Vertglass", something like that, on the Flicka one year . . . Don't know if that stuff is still available . . . I have gouges in my shear stripe that aren't going to go away without major restoration, but perhaps I can draw the eye away from them with a really shiny hull . . . :-) _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats