I have a 6 foot fiberglass boat rod(circa abobut 1961, no idea about the manufacturer) that my customer wants refinished/rebuilt. Someone before me has stripped 98% of the coating already. There are a lot of horizontal scratches on it. I removed the guides and just a little epoxy/coating left. This is my fisrt crack at refinishing any rod.

I have some fine ScotchBrite(equal too 0000 steel wool) to work with and want to know if some fine wet sandpaper will be suitable to use? Maybe 600 or 1000 grit?

When I apply the finish will these scratches 'disappear' with the application?

Do I need to sand until the scratches are gone?

I have read good things about Perma Gloss as a finish. are there new finishes that have come on the market recently that anyone has feedback on?

What is the best way to apply the finish? With a brush or some kind of application pad?

Any other tips will be appraciated!! I'll post some before/after pictures once I get the photo paged figured out.(see my post from yesterday about that. Not sure if it's me or my computer!?)

I have not built or repaired a rod in 7 years so I'm just now getting back in the groove. A co-worker saw me reading Rod Maker in the shop last week and asked me if I repaired rods. Well I said 'Why yes I do' and by the end of the week I now have 4 rods to repair and one possible build to do.

No end of work to be done with rods on the TX Gulf Coast!

Regards to all,

Pat

I think you are on the right track. Wet sanding might be the answer, but the scotchbrite should work as well. If you get down to 1000 grit and still have scratches, I 'd leave them there. Finish will often hide the very small scratches. Perma Gloss is good stuff. There may be a learning curve for you, but do a bit of research. It is easily applied with a fine sponge, wiped down the blank. Several coats would be required if you've stripped the blank down. CPXtra is another good product

Lumiseal will also work. You can also use cheese cloth to wipe it on the blank.

David Dosser
Coshocton, OH

Your clear top coat will only gloss up what is underneath. If you remove the finish color, or remove patches of it, they will be fully visible after finishing.

Same as Jay said, if you sand it, sand the whole thing evenly and try to get it as smooth as you can before you apply PG or Lumiseal, or any other urethane/finish.

David Dosser
Coshocton, OH

If the scratches are in the glass and not the finish you most likely won't sand them out. Glass boat rods can take a light wet sand to the glass so you can try. Make sure you wash your hands very very good after sanding or you will itch like mad. Truely the best finish is a two part auto clear that is made in a spray can. If your any good at spray painting you can do this. Google " auto clear" and look for a 2K spray can finish I can't mention the name due to rules but this is the easiest and toughest by leaps and bounds in a spray can. Do a search here on painting there is lots of info about prep and what not.

If you need to shoot a color you can use Duplicolor touch up let it dry for at least 3 days then spray with the auto 2K. Oh and wear a good quality mask for sure!!