Clearcoat for a faded boat

I have a 1980's fiberglass boat that I want to clear coat. Do any you have any type of coating or how to apply?
Thanks for any information.

Don't do it. Get yourself some M3 Finess it paste and a polishing machine and have at it, then wax it. If its too far gone, you can wet sand it starting with 800 grit and work your way down to 2000 grit before using the paste to polish it. If you are not to far off Sharps Chapel ( Union county ) I'll lend you the polishing machines.

X2

I've done similar things to older boats. It will really surprise you how much you can bring back color in most boats. Sometimes almost like brand new.
Scuba1 is correct.

The color is still there, just in deeper. I had a Tiara years ago and had the hull redone as noted above. Incredible how nice it turned out and stayed. I would note this boat was in fresh water, I’m not sure if salt water would be tougher on the new finish.

Osky

This works well but is a lot of work. Years ago I put a new dash In an early 80s Ranger for a guy at work. While I had it, I wet sanded and polished about a 3 foot section on one side to show the owner what it could look like if he wanted to put the effort in. Never did see the boat again so don't know if he ever finished it.

Thanks for the info. I am in no hurry. I will do the 3M compound. I have the buffers. The color is there, Just faded back. It is an old Ensign bass boat. it is green. A copy of the old bomber bass boats.

A sealer or "clear coat" is really just a patch job and will haveto be stripped and re applied every year to keep it looking nice. Polishing your gel coat back to a shine is really the only right way to do it. And sometimes it can Eaven be to far gone for that.gel coat is pritty thick usually so it has to be really bad to not have enough left to polish back out. You just haveto get it back to a high shine and polish out all the pits. It has micro pits from weather that you can't se. That's why when u get it wet it looks ok cause the water fills in the micro pits and puts a shine back to it.there are several great 3m products that will acomplish this. Start rough and work your way fine like 3m fines it. Use a REAL buffer also. With a lower speed u can set it at. Not one of those crappie auto buffers. Gel coat is softer than auto clear coat. If you use a high speed you will burn your gel coat! Once you get it polished use a good quality marine wax not a cheep auto wax. Here again this is not a vehicle. Good wax can cost up to 30$ a can but it's cheep insurance. Once u get it done it's alot of work so DONT leave your boat siting out in the weather and sun year round. Apply quick coat of wax once a year and it should look good for years

I want to do it the right way. When I bought the boat the man kept it outside uncovered. I had to replace the flooring, floatation, seats, carpet. I cleaned it up pretty good and kept it inside a garage .I even painted the trailer. I needed a place to put a engine in my truck so the boat went outside for a few months. The finish has faded. It did have a slight shine to it before. I used car wax and hand waxed it the first time. I would touch it up with armor all when we would come back from fishing. This time I'll do it the right way.
Thanks for all the information.

Can you suggest a brand and type of buffer?. I understand it needs to have speed settings. I have found the 3M products and the wax.
Thanks folks!

Dewalt makes a pritty good one. I think Milwaukee does too. It's a variable speed polisher/buffer. They look like an angle grinder with a handle across the top. They have diferent sizes also but that is just personal preference. Harbor freight might have one I'm not sure but if you don't plan on using it alot a harbor freight model may be ok.the Dewalts are kinda pricey. Around 200$ if I remember right.but whatever brand you get make sure it is variable speed

Ok, Thanks. I'll look into Milwaukee.

U bet. Hope you get er looking good