Transom paint

[Susan Annala]

Hi....The previous owner painted the boat name and port on the transom. It needed to be re-done so I decided to re-do it in plastic lettering. I have taken the paint off and where the name was it is a shiny white. I understand that is the original fiberglass. My question is how do I get the rest of the transom back to the same color as where the original boat name was. I went to West Marine and the guy sold me a can of heavy duty fiberglass rubbing compound by Trewax and some applicator pads and told me to get rubbing. I am assuming that he knows what he is talking about. Is this the way to go or is there anything else that I need to do? And is there any special wax that I need to use as well? Please help. Thanks. Susan Oh

 

[Bob]

What we did

If the rubbing compound works, consider yourself lucky. The challenge is to reduce the thickness of the "name shadow" down to the same level as the rest of the transom without burning thru the old, oxidized surface. You might have better results with a sanding block or "buzz" sander and some 220 grit paper on the shadow. Then wet sand the entire transom with 400/600 grit and buff. We ended up sanding our transom and having a thin layer of gelcoat sprayed on, which was then buffed out. This was done in 1999 to a 1985 H34 that had the original name painted on and now looks new.Kathy and Bobbyaboard GRACErhinely@hargray.com

 

[Barry]

Similiar Story

I found there was a lot of gelcoat on mine h34. I sanded the transom with #220 sandpaper and a random ordital power sander. Then went down to #400, then #600, then compound. Didn't burn through and it has a reasonable shine. Doing the same job with just compound would take quite a while I think.Barry

 

[Charlie]

Transom

Susan,We had plastic or vinyl letters on our transom from the previous owner. When we changed the name we didn't do anything to the fiberglass. In about 6 months you could not see the difference where the gell coat had been covered before and where it wasn't.All that sanding and buffing can wear the gell coat through which is already very thin. I believe it was worth the 6 months wait for the color to even out. Besides, the diesel exhaust will cause some discoloration on the transom anyway even though I try to clean it often.Fair winds and following seas,CharliePS I hope you soon get access to a digital camera and post some pictures of your cabinet work.

 

[Susan Annala]

Gel coat

Kathy and Bobby..you mentioned you had a thin gel coat sprayed on. Did you spray it on? Does it come in a can? I don't know much about fiberglass, all I know is that my entire boat needs buffing out and the transom is a real mess. Now it even has blue fading from when I took the color off with the oven cleaner that I was told to use. It really makes me sick that it has turned out so sloppy. Plus I can't take it out until I get the name and port back on.....just sitting here at the dock and watching everyone else go out is well.....not much fun! Thanks for your help. Susan

 

[Bobby]

Spraying gelcoat

The boat was in the yard for a bottom job, and we had an individual that does fiberglass work do it. Basically, after the transom has been sanded to a dull, matte finish, gelcoat is thinned with acetone to a watery consistency and sprayed on with an air gun like paint. I have done touch-up work using a small Preval sprayer (available at boat stores) using the same technique with good results (after practicing on scrap plywood!). Follow the directions supplied with the gelcoat carefully, or you can have the gelcoat "kick" in the sprayer and then you have a mess. If you have a new boat dealer in your area, find out who they use for warranty work. The average boat owner does not have access to a compressor and paint guns, but this job is not outside the realm of DIY. The labor-intensive ($$$) part of the job is the prep, spraying took about 2 hours, followed by buffing. The buffing compound used is called Aquabuff 2000, and is used by manufacturers to buff out fiberglass molds.On a side note, I had four years experience of working in the boat yard and knew the guy and the quality work that he did.