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polishing pontoons

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lakebum

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I don't want to wear people out with this but I created a blog with somewhat detailed instructions on how I did mine. Check it out and let me know if you need more details. Check my gallery for photos. Thanks, Steve
 
Hey Lake Bum: Sorry I should have responded to you post earlyer. Your not wearing anyone out on the subject In-fact I would like to know more. And I think the Sight needs more stuff like this. The thing's that intrest me are???

You go ahead and do all this work to make your toon's polished. What's involved in keeping them this way. I would like to know the Maintance thats involved in keeping them looking good.

I guess this is somthing that you would have to have had done to your toon's for some time to let us know what you had to do lets say over a summer to keep them polished.

1. Does being tied to a dock scuff them up.

2. If Not what kind of Bumpers are you using?

The cool thing for me with the Factory finish on the toon's it's easy to keep them nice or repair minor scuffs with a Red 3M pad.

Its a balancing act between enjoying your time on the water and Keeping your boat ship shape to where you spend more time keeping it perfict then enjoying it.
 
Lake Bum do you have any more pic's of your Polish Job

pontoonpolish.jpg
 
Geewest, Check my blog out for the how-to. I can post a picture of my tubes after a full summer with no maintenance to them. I keep it on a covered lift. I spent every week-end on the water from April 1st until the middle of October except for one week-end. The tubes have a lot of hours in the water. The part below the water line is a little hazy looking but not too bad. Unless it's on the lift or trailer, you barely notice it. I think a quick re-polish this spring will bring them back 100%. This spring I am going to polish the inside areas of the tubes and also the bottoms.

As I said in the blog, water spots bothered me but are not visible from 10 feet or so. I am trying to find a cure for those. I believe mine were as good as the boat in your post but it does have a few scuffed places that will be easy to re-buff. Thanks for the interest. Steve
 
Butchkid said:
Who is "GMA Polishing" in that picture? Does that mean I can pay someone to do that? :p

[/quote

If your serious Im sure you might be able to find a local metal polishing company that would be able to do this for you.

Im guessing your gonna pay as low as $500 to $2000 to get somthing like this done. Time is money and like Lake Bum said it took some time.

Do a search for metal refinishing in your area.
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I got an estimate this past weekend from a local place that will polish my tubes. They quoted me $275 per side of the tube or $550 per tube. I'm debating whether to attempt myself or save myself the hard work and pay for this.

Lakebum, would you have done it yourself or paid $1100 for both tube to be done by pros if you had it to do over?
 
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Spinzone, I'm a hands-on guy. That being said, I would have done my own. BUTTTTTTTTTTTT....... $1100 is a bargain. I only did the outsides and the whole nose cone on all three but will do all areas before taking it back to the lake.

Be sure and price the sides and cones because the cones are hard to do because of the splash sheilds. If I was quoting this job for someone it would be at least double the price you got. A polishing company can pay someone $10 to $15 an hour, I'd like to be in the $25 to $50 range for side work.

I think if you have this done you will be more than satisfied. Goes with the pride of ownership that we already feel just owning Benningtons. Hope this steers you in the direction that you wanted. Good luck, Steve
 
The polish guy told me mine would be easier as I only have 50 hours in water on the boat and always stored on trailer in dry storage when not in use. They are clean and still look fairly new but nowhere near what yours looked like and that is what I want. I own a harbor freight and cyclo buffer with good pads from my classic car rebuilding days, but am still debating the effort that will be required.
 
Got my toons done today! $600 for the outsides, nose cone, and stern caps. They look really good. Not Lakebum good, but close. I'll post pics tonight if anyone is interested.
 
Yea i would love to see how your boat looks. Ill do some looking around at some aluminum polishes that are a seimi sealer. They are suposed to slow down the effects of oxidation and normal dulling of aluminum.
 
Spinzone, let's have a look! Money well spent and you saved a lot of labor. With your cyclo, maintaining them will be super easy. A friend gave me a Cyclo a few weeks ago but my wife did not quite understand the $366 worth of pads and polishes I bought for a "free" buffer. Enjoy your new shine! Steve
 
lakebum said:
Spinzone, let's have a look! Money well spent and you saved a lot of labor. With your cyclo, maintaining them will be super easy. A friend gave me a Cyclo a few weeks ago but my wife did not quite understand the $366 worth of pads and polishes I bought for a "free" buffer. Enjoy your new shine! Steve
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I have the same problem with my wife! I started a new thread to not hijack this one. The photos don't do it justice as I had to shrink them and they were taken with the detailer's phone.

I've decided that side illumination will look amazing reflecting off those mirrors.
 
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As you go foward with the side lights, start a new thread and keep us apprised.The side illumination pic that just showed up on the gallery looks real good. Steve
 
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