Blinded by the Shine!

[Tim Lingor]

Blinded by the shine

Hey Everyone,

As many of you know, besides being a detailing fanatic, I am also a fishing maniac! As such, my tools of choice are a fly rod and an aluminum 12' boat. However, since my first love is detailing, having an oxidized aluminum boat sitting on top of a detailed truck, takes away from the overall impression and all of the hard work that went into the truck.

So, I decided to do something about it. After oodles of research, I was left scratching my head on which method would work best to provide the best finish. I decided to tackle the project with:

* Meguiar's All Metal Polish M-2805 (Professional Mirror Glaze Series)
* Meguiar's Wool Buffing Pad W-4000 on a Makita rotary buffer

followed by

* Gold Class All Metal Restorer G-9110
* Meguiar's W-7006 foam Cutting Pad on a Makita rotary buffer

Let me tell you right from the start, this is a messy job!! As you buff, the white polish turns black from the oxidized aluminum and makes everything very messy to say the least. You have been warned!!!!

First, the Meguiar's All Metal Polish is a paste that comes in a 5 oz. Container. Though the container seems small, it is surprising just how far a small amount of this polish will go. To me, the polish smells a little like coconuts, which is a pleasant change from the normal ammonia smelling products I used to use. I used some old towels (do not use good ones as they will be ruined from the black residue; ask me how I know!!! ) I applied a small amount to a 1'x 1' area on the boat, ran the rotary buffer at a much higher than normal speed (advice I received from an aluminum pontoon shop) at around 2000-2200 rpm! I buffed the area until the black residue disappeared. I had to spur the pad with pad spur quite often in order to remove the build up of polish.

The finish from this step was amazing!!! I could actually see my reflection like I was looking into chrome and not an aluminum fishing boat!! Now I was intrigued!! I wanted to see just how bright and shiny I could make the boat.

So, I decided to move on to the next step and use Meguiar's Gold Class All Metal Restorer (a liquid) on a Foam Cutting Pad W-7006. Again, I did a very small area at a time. The GC All Metal Restorer smells very similar to the All Metal Polish but not quite. Because this one is a liquid, I placed a fair amount on the pad, rubbed it around and proceeded to buff at a little lower but still high 1800 rpm. I found the GC All Metal Restorer was streaking a little and required more effort to remove. But once removed, the finish was incredible!! I could see my reflection as if I were looking into high polished chrome!!

Of course I had to now finish the rest of the boat. The painted sides were finished off with some Meguiar's #80 Speed Glaze and topped with Meguiar's #20 Polymer Sealant for long lasting protection. By this point I had several neighbors standing there wondering why I was detailing a 'fishing boat'. One commented that the boat was now a hazard for on-coming motorists as they will be blinded from the reflection of the sun in the boat!!

After the full detail, I used my pressure washer to remove any remaining black polish residue from around the rivets etc.

Here is a before and after shots. It is hard believe how good a job the Meguiar's metal polishes did on the aluminum boat. From this experience, I can hardly wait to try them on other pieces of metal!!!

Cheers!

Tim


Before:


After:



And...

[Mike Phillips]

I'm not sure, but I think a grave injustice has been committed. This post was moved into a forum that is closed so while people can view it, they cannot reply to it.

I'm sure there have been plenty of people that would like to ask Tim questions or even make a comment about his results he achieved polishing the aluminum portions of his fishing boat and I know since he first finished this extreme makeover, he's now had a chance to revisit this project.

We apologize Tim, I think it was an honest mistake... This thread is now open for comments and questions!

[Ranger72]

Wow man wow!!!! Looks beautiful! I bet you just picked up 2mph on the water with that slick bottom! Yes, your neighbors are right, you should by law have to cover the boat while in transport!!! LOL Looks great!

[Superior Shine]

too nice to take fishing now!!!

[Tim Lingor]

Hey everyone,

What can I say, I like a boat that shines! Maybe it will attract more fish? Or perhaps, my neighbors will think I am nuts for polishing an “aluminum fishing boat!”

Since that first buff-out of the boat, I have detailed it several more times. Each time is easier than the first, but no less messy. Once the major work is done, each buff-out becomes less strenuous than the previous one. Regardless, in my eyes, the results are worth it! I spend hours buffing and maintaining my truck’s paint. And since the boat sits on top of the truck year-round, I do not want the boat to take away from the hard work put into the truck’s paint. So off comes the boat, and out comes the rotary and wool pad.

Here is a picture from the most recent buff-out from a few days ago. This time however, I added one more step. I used Meguiar’s NXT Generation All Metal Polysh with the PC as the final step. I was hoping that the NXT Metal Polysh may add just a little more gloss to the metal, and did it ever! I found that if you really work the product it in, give a few minutes to set-up, removal is a snap! The results were incredible!




Do you think the boat will look like a giant fishing lure? I sure hope so!

Tim

[Tom Weed]

WOW... You will either blind the fish and everyone else on the lake or the fish will think that's a big shiney lure!

that is the shiniest boat I've ever seen!

Tom

[Tim Lingor]

Originally posted by Superior Shine
too nice to take fishing now!!!

Nah...what good is having the toy if you can not play with it? Besides, I can always buff it again!

Tim

[rusty bumper]

I believe you're right Tim.......It does look a little better this time.

They don't look that good in the store!

[Ranger72]

Originally posted by 2hotford

Do you think the boat will look like a giant fishing lure? I sure hope so!

Tim

Better nto take it out into the ocean, you might get eaten by a blue whale!!! Hahahahaha

[RDVT4ME]

Amazing!

I'm sure it looks better now than when it was brand new.