Have any of you done your own “professional” high end ceramic coating on a new boat or outboard and if so, what product do you like best? We had a thread on the Fight Club forum but I figured why not start a fresh one here. I like the Griot’s 3-in-1 ceramic wash and the Armor All Ceramic spray but I’m wanting to coat my fresh F70 right after I get it out of the crate Monday. I don’t want opinions on why you don’t think ceramic is worth it or any of the ranting, I just want to know if anyone has done their own “professional” high end ceramic coating on their boat and or outboard and what product they used. I had to repeat it…
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Call tarpon detailing in stuart, i think the guys name is Jim. He did my skiff when it was brand new and did an amazing job. He mentioned he used a product line with 3 different solutions for differet surfaces. Ive seen other skuffs done and none of hem were as good as whatever he used. I had a new truck done because i was so impressed with results on skiff, whater the guy used on my truck was garbage., so there are different products and qualities.
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Yep, I’ve done it a dozen times or more. From boats to skiffs to air boats to cars, fishing rods, any random crap I have around the house, knives, etc..
You can call me if you really want step-by-step to it.
Lots of good products out there even some of the China ones on Amazon work well.
If you just want a simple answer on a product that works and goes on relatively easy. don’t overthink, don’t buy into all the advertisement the answer is “carpro UK 3.0” it simply works, as easy as that.
Gyeon can coat is also good, very easy installation and tuch up.
If you want to do the the extra step on the new engine, you should a polish the engine first with a polish/compound that does not have any fillers. Use a DA or forced rotation DA. apply that and wipe it all off, wipe it off one more time and then alcohol wipe it off.
Get out of the sun and apply the product (ceramic of your choosing) let it flash, wipe it off wipe it off again gently. Let that sit for about an hour, then reapply/wipe it on and wipe it off again.
That gives you two coats, depending on where your boat lives. It should last well over a year, even in Texas sun. Keep your boat covered except for when you use it wash it properly and use the three and one topcoat from time to time and you should expect several years.
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Here’s a picture of one I did several years ago with a quality China coating. The spot on the right has been preped with compound the spot on the left is simply ceramic coating on top after polish. This boat was very bad super faded old Hydro sport.
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First rule of fight club…
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No opinions? Thats no fun.
Wanna know how much your boat is worth? 
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Worth and what I paid for are potentially two different things but I’ll sell my boat for 120K. 
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Mac - I had it done on my Whipray but I did not do it myself. My shop offered me a killer deal on it so they could test it out - it worked great on my boat. But……
They tried to use it on the engine cowling and it hazed it really bad. They had to repaint the entire cowling - now this was on the original Tohatsu engine I was replacing, so no worry there, but the owner and I were both surprised by this.
Double check and make sure the type of coating you are using can be used on the materials on the cowling. All clearcoats are not equal.
I wish I knew exactly the cause - I can dig the brand they used and cross reference the materials if needed.
They did the cap and it made it slick - I would avoid the cap and just do the hull and any flat surface - I would not do any non skid.
It is time consuming - micro buffing could be how to explain it, but I believe it is worth it. Shops charge a lot for it and their profit margin is sky high.
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Thank you for all the replies. Very good information! I’m looking into what has been discussed so far. I also got a reply from the guy who coated the Protos skiff and he used Starke Liquid Thor which is a product made and sold by a Florida company called Starke Yacht Surface Technologies.
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Mac,
Post your updates after you finish. I’m down a rabbit hole here trying to figure out what to do with my skiff. I had ceramic done 4ish years ago but need to deal with the barnacle residue on the waterline now.
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I have not used Stark, but I know they have a big online push right now with marketing.
The thing with me on all these brands right now and there’s probably thousands, is who actually makes the product vs which companies that are just rebranding someone else else’s product.
I’m not sure about Stark, but I am guessing they are not like Dupont or 3M in that they are not blending their own chemicals. I think they are purchasing from companies and slapping their logo on it. Stark could be a great product. I just know that with the way their business model works The installers/resellers have a lot of incentive to push it upon you.
If you did buy the Stark product from what I’ve gathered speaking with some installers is, it works well. With that said, does it proportionally work better than a product that may cost a quarter of the price?
It’s hard to find real world testing out there that is unbiased or sponsored and even more difficult to actually get scientific data on product composition.
Separately, the way, manufactures shoot gelcoat, the quality of gel coat they use and post processing on the boat out of the mold makes a large difference in how well ceramic coating works. For instance, and this is just my humble opinion Gradywhite and Tiara use absolute garbage gel coat and or the way they shoot it is incorrect.
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You gotta post before and after pics Mac, I’m curious what color did you go with? I think the white is my favorite but that new brown is a real head turner.
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@Brandon-Beers would love to see a thread from you on all things boat detailing. You’ve always given me such great advice, like when I had bad water spots and salts build up on my outboard. A local detailer wanted me to do a full $375 reapply of ceramic coating and you pointed me to a high quality spot remover which worked great.
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That’s a deep rabbit hole there. I guess I’ll try and put something together over the next few months. It’s tricky because every boat is different and every owners needs are different.
Detailing is kind of like cooking you can give 10 people a recipe and you will end up with 10 different dishes.
But since we’re here, the short answer is griots 3 and 1. That pretty much covers everything for anyone that wants their paint/gelcoat protected water beating it’s really hard to ■■■■ up for the installer. Very easy maintenance and very little expense.
For someone that wants a true “ceramic” coating but doesn’t want to do a laundry list of prep steps Gyon Can Coat gets the job done and can be maintained with 3 and 1.
For those of you that are willing to use compound a rotary machine and a wool pad start with Meguiars 67.
For those of you that want to protect your rubrail and or other plastic rubber type things cerakote coat trim coat.
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How do you prep/polish non-skid? I am planing to do a full ceramic coat on my new build.
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Great information Brandon! I also plan to coat my new HB pro when I pick it up!
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Pearlescent White…I have wanted one since they started offering it. Matte brown would look like a Japanese turd on my off white Maverick and grey would look like just about every other skiff with an f70. Nothing wrong with grey but the pearl just looks great in my opinion and was only another $180.
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I wouldn’t ceramic coat the nonskid, you can try the Griot’s 3-in-1 ceramic wash or Armor All Ceramic Wash. both worked well for me and last for months but I wouldn’t want to make the nonskid turn into break your hip skid with the hardcore ceramic coating. There are probably ceramic options that don’t make it slick but I have not used them. Chittum was offering ceramic coating on their skiffs, not sure it’s still an option but I know there are probably lots of people in Florida who would do your detailing/ ceramic coating if you didn’t want to DIY.
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Yes sir that white is the best looking in my option. Good luck on the ceramic coating.
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carpet brush on a rotary or forced rotation DA with meguiars 67. If compound is left in the nonskid run the carpet brush dry or with some soapy water or run a wool pad dry, don’t overheat things.
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