Today's Detail v. Jet Boat!! (Lots of pics...56k no)

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01bluecls

New member
Hello all again. Today a customer of mine who had the Lotus Elise I detailed a month ago wanted me to detail his new jet boat. He said he got a great deal on it but unfortunately the boat place he bought it from did not take care of this BRAND NEW boat. It seems it had sat for months outside without a cover and being properly washed and waxed. The owner has taken out to water once and washed a few week ago I believe.



The boat wasnt filthy or grimey since the owner had washed it last time and put in the garage, BUT from the boat store neglect, the boat had oxidation and tons of SWIRLS! Owner dropped the boat off at my house at 8:45am, I started on it at 9:00 am and finished around 6:00pm!!!



Process..



EVERYTHING was wiped down with APC and MF towels to clean it. (My driveway slopes and I didnt feel like taking the risk of pulling it in the driveway by myself and having it roll into the street to wash it with the hose)



The Paint (Gelcoat) on the outside (basically sides, including most of the bottom of the boat) was polished with EC/OP via rotary and cutting pad @ 1500rpms with added pressure. Also used his Meguiars "Oxidation Removal" via Rotary for the bottom half of the boat since it wasnt as bad as the top via rotary at 1500rpms with cutting pad. Then followed up with FPII via rotary with polish pad at 1000rpms on all.



Inside paint/gelcoat (basically any area where the rotary would not fit) Polished with PC with cutting pad and OHC at 6. Any area where the PC would not fit (pretty much the whole interior) polished by hand with OC. Then polished with FPII by hand as well.



Trim on the outsite going all the way around the boat...I tried a few things to my dismay and found out that LEATHERIQUE, yes a leather conditioner, gave the trim enough oils to look new again. I did try 303, FX tire shine, Zaino Tire shine, CK RMG and some others but they all seemed way too greasy or didnt "soak" into the trim like I wanted it to.



White vinyl seats were pretty discolore from staining, so I used Mr. Clean Magic Eraser and very light dilution of APC. Cleaned them back to the pearly white that they once were!!



I also removed some stickers here and there (Warning stickers that were about latches) 4 in total.



LSP: 1 Layer Meg's Boat wax (cant remember the name) 2 Layer of collinite IW845, AND YES 1 layer of souveran!



Very pleased with the outcome since this was my first time ever detailing a boat!!



Nuff talk....picture time!



BEFORES..

Dullness and oxidation

06_jet_before_close.jpg




06_Jet_front_before.jpg




Swirls...



06_jet_qaurter_swirls.jpg




06_jet_close_swirls.jpg
 
MORE AFTERS (At this point the owner had hooked it up on the hitch of his truck and pulled it out in the driveway, same with those previous interior shots)



06_jet_front_shot_pass.jpg




06_jet_frt_pass_drive.jpg




06_jet_rear_pass_quarter.jpg




06_jet_pass_side.jpg




06_jet_front_shot.jpg
 
Anyways, the owner was very happy. Im hurting bad right now! My back especially.



Comments, questions as always welcomed....
 
Oh by the way, most of the interior gelcoat when i polished by hand of course did not come out swirl free as the rotary applied areas. But oxidation was removed for the most part and still looked better. I could have busted out the drill and 4 inch pads for most of the interior but that would have tacked on another 3 hours to the detail :(
 
Wow, thats a ton of work! So much polishing, and all the fine details in a boat! I never thought I would see the day where a boat was wearing Souveran. Looks superb!
 
:) Thanks folks, I knew someone would say something about the Souveran. I figured I had the durable coats underneath, plus I wanted the color to pop. Another thing I learned is the Gelcoat is very "thirsty" it seemed to soak up and love oils. That's pretty much why I threw so many coats of wax on it.
 
Great work! That was a ton of effort.





Love the listing of the steps; it really painted a clear picture for me... or is it a warm, wet picture :D?





So, the owner doesn't tow it behind his Exige :lol?
 
Great work. So good it almost shouldn't be touched for fear of leaving a fingerprint or smudge.



Like your process explaination and the way the Magic Eraser cleaned up those seats - something that would have likely been very difficult otherwise.
 
Sean...he actually sold the elise! He said this boat is his "toy" for now.



abbeysdad....I have found many uses for the magic eraser. I keep stocked in my garage for various things now. The last BMW I did had tan interior and along the inside door trim (the step panel next to the seats) had a bunch of scuffs and what not, tried a few things that make them budge, then busted out the Magic Eraser and they ALL came out.



You all have to remember that the Magic Eraser works because of basically micro abrasions. So test a small area or be cautious with what materials you are using it on.
 
Still didn't charge enough.... ;)



I am charging $12 per foot for boats in good condition, $15-20 per foot if they need deeper polishing. Boats are just too hard to detail for car rates.



Absolutely superb work! The boat looks immaculate inside and out! :bow
 
Sweet little toy he's got there. What is that about a 20'?. Top notch work, I dont think I've ever seen a boat look so deep and wet, well when its not actually wet. :-)
 
I think the boat is only a 16-17 footer if im not mistaken. I think maybe 7 ft wide... He said its prety fast and is able to get up to 55mph on the water! Thanks for the compliments!
 
Nice job and nice boat.



Personally if i do boats now i try to sell them on OW. For the ease of use them could upkeep it themselves.
 
Excellent Job! I had a summer job buffing and washing boats. Boat gel coats are porous and really suck up moisture so you described it correctly. Looks like you did an excellent Job!! BTW boats left outside will oxidize rather quickly, much much quicker than a car would.



Greg
 
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