Keeping the Toons Looking Great

Phenomenal!!!  Looks awesome!


One thing that came to mind seeing that last picture, before you put ANY Sharkhide on, clean all the black aluminum oxide dust out of the crevices of the welds, or it will smear badly when the Sharkhide goes on.  You'll lose that nice shine.  Ask me how I know.  After all that work, I almost started crying.


Paint thinner.
 
just bought shark hide at Eastwood, $59.99, one coat on 2550 ESP package and only used 1/2 pint

I used a 1/2 quart, but went over it a couple times.  Just did the outsides of the tubes, plus cones and end caps.  Sharkhide goes a long way.  Like 303 does.
 
Thanks!


I hope to keep mine this way, I don't have any sharkhide on hand (order in process via amazon) so I coated them with the Meguiars Pontoon protectant.


Once I get the sharkhide, i'll probably give it another round of buffing, then cleaning with acetone until there is no residue then coat it...
 
I can't emphasis the acetone enough.  After 3 days of work (for me), I just plain forgot about that step, and my shine turned to a dull gray the second the Sharkhide hit the welds.  Big smeary mess.  Black streaks in the Sharkhide when I wiped past a weld. I literally almost cried.  Don't forget!


I can't believe you got that shine without using rouge.  I also would have thought using wool would be too rough for a final shine.  I used cotton wheels for the polish phase.  Had to keep a wheel for each of the 3 rouges I used.  Kind of a pain.  If I ever redo mine, might try what you did.  Thanks for sharing.
 
Yeah I was thinking the same thing...that I can't believe he got such good results without using rouge.
 
yea me either!!!  My buddy polished his entire engine and components with this Mothers stuff and it all looks like chrome!  


I still can see some light pattern when the sun hits it just right, so maybe I still need to run some jewelers rouge on it??
 
Some quick research tells me I need to use the Mothers Billet Polish as a follow up finish to the Mag and Aluminum polish as a final cut...


I've been thoroughly impressed with the results so far from them so I'll give this a run after I can move my arms again.


Edit:


Read a review of the Mag and Aluminum polish says it will dull a mirror finish, and to use the Billet polish for mirror grade finishing after jewelers rouge.


So mine already look like mirrors with the Mag polish so this confirms that the Billet polish is what i'll do next.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Damn you....I'm actually contemplating doing all of this again using your method....and I swear I'm still sore from when I did this 2 years ago....
 
The Pain lives on and on
 
The Sharkhide will dull the mirrored finish just a touch.  But, you really have no choice as they will tarnish in a couple weeks without it.  Unless the other companies make something that will last...
 
in that closeup pic that says "No lift" most of that is tarnish from the original welds I believe, not dust...  will the Sharkhide loosen that up?  The acetone is not touching it even when I rub directly on it...


Do I really need to break out the dremel and conical polishing tool?  lt never ends...  
 
I can't see the photos.
 
If its the oxide/tarnish, my guess is the acetone won't touch it. My logic is you'd clean the entire pontoon with the acetone if it did.  I seriously doubt the Sharkhide would disolve it either.


As you know, the dust does get caked into crevices during the polishing process, so that was just my interpretation of the photo.
 
Yea, I remember @BigBlock saying to wipe it down until the rags are coming off clean BEFORE the sharkhide... his looks pretty mirrored, i'm wondering if the "dulling" from the sharkhide is due to imperfectly clean surface...
 
That looks great, nice job! I leave my boat in the water all summer and I get a lot of algae growth, does anyone know if Sharkhide will help prevent this if I apply it to my polished toons? I know it's not the same as antifouling paint but I'm just trying to convince myself to Sharkhide the toons but I'm afraid I'm still going to have to polish every year still since I leave it in the water.
 
@patcraver i understand this does keep it from sticking, you supposedly can rub the algae growth off easily and have the same polished finish you started with...  it's like clearcoat on paint.. it protects it.


I keep mine in the water all year as well.


I'm contemplating leaving a back side unfinished with sharkhide to see the diff after 1 year....  Maybe do HALF of one backside with nothing, and the other half with the Meguiars Pontoon stuff...  
 
Yea, I remember @BigBlock saying to wipe it down until the rags are coming off clean BEFORE the sharkhide... his looks pretty mirrored, i'm wondering if the "dulling" from the sharkhide is due to imperfectly clean surface...

If I remember, the back of the can of Sharkhide warns about a slight dulling, so I'd say it dulls even a perfectly clean surface.  It's not a completely optically clear material.  Plus you wipe it on with a rag, so it's not going to be a perfectly smooth either.


I would maybe describe it as using a rag to wipe baby oil all over a bathroom mirror.  You can imagine the reflection would no longer be perfectly clear, even though baby oil is clear.  I noticed a slight reduction in shine as I put it on, but what else can you do?  They can tarnish in a couple weeks, so you have to put something on them or all your hard work is wasted.
 
I can't remember being this sore... 2 full days... one of them in the snow.  Mission complete:


Tools:
1x Dewalt DWP849X Variable speed polisher
2x Dewalt 7" wool buffing pads
3x 12oz Mothers Mag and Aluminum Polish
5x Rolls of Bounty Paper Towels
1x Gallon of Acetone


HxxRAcFa6FO5pCjDa-tYBh7-tji1zBasYSmvVSVgx3NwG6gB3gJlQDYHDupqRNAbI9Zzd4cQgs5h0iVOkiaDR4MvYKoLDGfrm_NJhU0THhgHEjDyxUce_KqAnDOzOzpOPfS2lnDH6mAbZdAfqdMRjyKp3r6zoTyXvowMXqB2KILPy6UBPI4QPloD-RaxFHG48i_7GKWvV71UcLnE7GoaRmKjd8QbdYM1PbMsWE-rSRWII0xf_6aivsu_qBoWXRIScjO7AQFohRo8Q-l6GKmS_wI4-DFxFxlLqcbNxnq-JO4qzk8Yzym-dO37TblpoBpluOj-cl_xUaTgN6lumvo6G6pg-R352vkA5vQpcGBLkwudCUgwA-NJe6rjs_n1m4q1IcwDwKrol7EIyQiQPN52OLyi6mhAokecQITru9uwVfMjR1Is8R6wxAswwTsQp6CxtUHz_AEpiMwEuWh74OU0D7iPmN-gQOHqaiBivCh276xjOJkxNm6nNhFxy1Dckg_xmQHXAuyn7AycsvtIQr4YHqc67n_3Ov1i-VTr68lxMiMuT7m862m8ivhLHfWCU1D-rE0Xxw=w368-h653-no



gPN5Td0Sva4Av6bDonNJ0x9-86M3ntJX2d1d38jl_fmvXH3L94FcXA57xYr1OzDjU3EbE76S1ztFtzcQRFqQL0fujFMMkk-LjxrdumOo13WboFamqtgF2CVjAtYP0V2I-hoPSF_a5Kr1q9jAypHRD6IFcEhpstaOBlI4iOrjdmk3yIz2ckcAUClXlmGd46ShFGUiCxlABYK_iEdiwjVmOMTMGuPgTDiGQyKBJy-melJ5WcFTFsAWClI765TAUMvljsAV0rSScv8uG35oyERp2bLgGzB4HmbShVAXa_JzGhwQS_dGCWxjNo-RfMNwfMkaqzm__TRYdOvMRvqKjY6xObyzuUHia57nGbBlbD1kYMW3icw-NyiB57ro34EBswuHYqCyY3Hi4tnlBQh6mT5Xizp_ps3Bty5IiGFKkxmIrB3FBsOEx9sJEZZwU0vE4fHX8bDaPk51dUGml-wBPsafeg6Pw0oxNnp4n0YVkYhwIaBk4iSNrIYume2cQL-5QOQz-SWPhYwnv-tVb8e9-CUFsmoqawQzGTDVZTDuRfWbImGQdheApyxEasfDUjxOx4jNDDENOg=w1006-h566-no



HJZd9DPRFeXpX5mvO2pwI1fKDN1VJMc2ZQqM5V7tgdz9srTU8vPfRX_83GjfUOloOp5rNToveNbh51J4H1Qs9wQ63d8-b0MLK04wfmdDdh5xeY1hhoOdRjgGL0fAVL2LE2t9Sv2FyrAsk4deW-iR8rHZV3EUa8osueQ8YDhMLM8gEgeRhz1QqKc-efbi82eO3w4EzZzTG2R1hPx85YPBRXn7UmgZBZ3D-KIjfVu8rEktdqQmW9n04SGSe8DO-EmrZcARYUxwtaYB3VonVTu09C80A5QX5BjFCno1u6OYmOGcA8mCFTJMkXDjIZ3D6wWfv3nhnphazn-jsejeb1UAaBcVWNRhq2dEChhqxZCf46o7MVNyb56OBrQmdUd7GdrOIOyD1qdvrWKgbABnGIrmj2XyKqEc8jyW9NZsytgwY0Hvjt9fu6lSDfPUxz3x_4L7EzgaECHDtymEfa1gknSa8jQb2SUVxFblfs7O5pvyulIPBKJ7lvAzrXE1CUCOzmRB7ZykmuM0K4Fdu0OgUBSG9rry0cAuun8fr_-YqlaUfXltu0EcY8jah6nW8dxY0XKguzR1iQ=w1006-h566-no



x8omST55sf_rdLIPwozlYCsFYfMEPwHaN45FpXvmVGbOIymH581ghs6R0c-73fxrbSfH9QA-Iy_piTU-B-TVaHLkjviwxmdWjm4wiZTdaVAWjH43k5loCWN3vLkThoJdClaZiKCakjmf5M5fFY1iqEdA-KyLxSSlYqsmR1w0ATug6AeuyHqhvIkP61B2TkFXLUhJ1soM6XTPE5rA90sBL3B4xDdqwQu9IsYI-Y0CXNd29XehoUPZqPVy3IVtcFOAFY0-YixmDef2lY1K5D75jCeO3hBuVlywOz-jaV5Jlp0rrsYrrlqeDKlC8CBAFhydAgtz-I2XHga4Gkz2v1AT1kZKNRUKMGAGlzTwIs5jmpb2yA4qfGyQ-mR3Wo-hgF85JEgewXPRZdCD1cb3pb53F3DxzzaO37r48jqkNLtAL12UrBknM8B_tSZmIvG3bv5leI42FRy2V_NW6SfqnZ0vcVTx2szjPyneasOD9qvc0miYx6LgoURfYVcqE4Qbpe3dNhR5WlR7OfJsoFZ6sCAmf-DbItXWCfLFNrHomIugusOhDS6aduzSunI8UobY0qnFcho7DA=w1006-h566-no



rLrSjr6xMTPA2hgxe_22CzFtFn-qmU-l1zpcOdkfezBfL6C2lx6LdTBzwDhlvEpBQl7eWY39LszWlAbroZk2SM9KfxGMZziDpy3x2CjTbWk0_bXfjn2nI5Tv6uaQS62gY_YfejgOGt36l7UT-QiOPojF3k7qFOEurs0kRhYJDO8f_HZuJYgnUdVXYIZHLZFyoXRHdq-H7St73X8XHN2H2ane_lM5eElFwlLMwHltY9Y8Knj7kQTqaGPR1m52t_7hJK7qa53Ni5iw1idI8pvaOJVnVeZtrEuMaRLts8tpqKdDIlRfzkDn4jjOWPuPpz1O1RviDs7l4AprSsf7a-Tduw6t80UBz8h913KGxCtb3xerJGri4TqYYWWKbAm_c3dest1S4FORP7dDjfBfOCLhm8yVswfAlwnHdEXPlIWBB0KJHxSmHEiVcZ0FZimqbhmX64neFsOh8xtp3uh3DBwaZRGXWEw092T9GdYZjcBV2TiaFtLWM-yI7HTtkJOtGtv3HT5QlqicxSI7iVjBeXnbZozdPCNZxuYeRGbsZ99iKeRs5OCilqckX_JolszcCSDnzwX33A=w1006-h566-no

Pics didn't show up for me?  Wish I could see the work you did - comments make it sound great. 
 
Did you drop the polisher?
 
Back
Top