polishing an aluminum boat

[semojetman]

So, wondering if anyone has came across any miracle polish or protectant that keeps her shiny.

Im gonna polish my '13 Blazer SS and im likely going to just slick it up with some 1500, 2000, and then 3000 trizact and then buff it with perfect it compound.

Then protect it with some shark hide.

If anyone has had some luck with anything let me know please.

 

[krawler]

Been there done that, it's a lot of dirty work.

Shark hide is good stuff and very easy to apply but you will need a lot of lacquer thinner to get all the black stuff off first.

Get a big bag of white rags and a box of gloves.

The easiest way to do it is to flip the boat over and start on the bottom. Do one area at a time, sand, polish, clean, protect then move on to another area. If you're doing this yourself plan on a couple of days worth of work. And if you let an area sit unprotected more than a couple of days it will haze over and you'll have to polish it again. That's why it's best to only do small areas that can be accomplished in the time period you set aside.

One more thing that will make it easier is to acid wash the boat first. You can buy the kit from Shark hide.

 

[Miller13]

If you want it to look like fueltanks and wheels on a big rig there stuff called jewlers rouge it comes in different colers for different apps . All you do wash you want to polish put a buffing wheel on a high speed 8 inch grinder ( you can get the wheels same place as compound ) and start polishing it will be a better finish than that of a new pontoon no joke like a mirror if you want to or you can just shine it up but this stuff works well. But your buddies will be all squint eyed in the reflection
No clean up really just soap and water

 

[earl60446]

I have seen guys who ride motorcycles shine their aluminum wheels so shiny that it looks like chrome or a mirror. They tell me they get it that way with finer and finer stages of sandpaper, like up to 1000 or 2000 grit. Not even sure they make 2000 grit but you get the idea. Of course a bike wheel has NO flat spots and is a much smaller area.
Tim