Vinyl Wrapping Hull - Input please!

Wildstyle

Hey guys!

I'm thinking of wrapping my black hull for the 2019 season and wanted your input on which way to go. Either a glossy / factory black look or should I go with a carbon fibre look? I can't seem to keep it shiny no matter if I buff/wax it. It stays good for a few weeks then fades and doesn't look as nice. I know doing this will make it look amazing for years to come. Any thoughts??

Liberty44140

I couldn’t get my black hull back to a new boat shine so I used poliglow. Saved me thousands and it looks like a new black boat. $75 kit, follow the instructions. 

GMSLITHO

How did the polyglot hold up 

Dream_Inn

Well, if you are resorting to wrap, go with the solid black.  I will say I've also seen people have good luck with poliglow.  But, I agree, it's tough work and the main reason I went with a white hull.

Liberty44140

GMSLITHO said:

How did the polyglot hold up 

Great. Like I said I did the prep with the polystrip and some polyox on some stains to get it uniform spring 2017. The first year I did at least 10 coats, maybe 12. You hand wipe on with their rag so 10-12 coats takes a couple of hours. Still looked great in the fall of 2017. Then last spring 2018 I cleaned it real well with soap and water and I put on 3 more coats. Looked great again this fall 2018. Will do 3 more coats this spring 2019 which takes 30 min. 

rmfriday

I also used poly glow in 2017, it held up great for 2017 and in 2018 it started to show some wear. At the end of this season i stripped the poly glow with commercial floor tile wax remover. It was super simple, i plan on using poly glow again this spring. If it continues to hold up i will do this same process every two years. 

MarkB

My friend used the gloss black on his boat, and it held up great. I have used that Carbon Fiber look on my car ... same 3M product.  Anyhow, here's my opinion ... definitely go with the solid black ... key reason ... if you bump that hull, and scuff (or even worse tear the vinyl), you won't be able to repair the carbon fiber easily. The solid black, you can easily patch, and standing a few feat away, you won't notice. The carbon fiber patch, you will see easier, as the pattern is harder to line up.  Plus the carbon fiber has a texture, and I don't think it will be as easy to keep clean, you can get build up in the grooves.

Wildstyle

That makes a lot of sense guys, thanks. As much as I like the idea of carbon fibre, I think gloss black is the way to go. It’s also half the cost of carbon fibre!

GMSLITHO

With the positive reviews on the poly glow try it for a few bucks if you don’t like it wrap it 

LaRea

Well, you asked for opinions, so here's one more, and I guess I'm in a feisty mood tonight.  Carbon-fiber wrap offends me.  Not just on boats, but on anything.  Either a thing is made from carbon fiber, or it isn't.  CF wraps just rub me the wrong way, and the reasons aren't necessarily rational.  

pistole

haha @ LaRea.

 I have used faux carbon wrap on small items on the boat like switch/plug covers and the gear/throttle binnacle cover. On small items and done well , the result is actually quite pleasing to the eye.

rmfriday

what is the ballpark cost of getting the boat wrapped?

rasbury

for what the wrap costs, I think I'd be disappointed after knocking the boat around a bit...it's going to get mess up and you can't buff on a wrap!

Wildstyle

rmfriday said:

what is the ballpark cost of getting the boat wrapped?

$1850 installed for regular or $3600 for carbon fibre. It costs me $900 to get it buffed and waxed which doesn’t last so this seems like a logical next attempt. They guarantee 9 years of life from it. Repairs are possible if you hit the dock, but with some overlap that’s all. 

MarkB

A friend of mine got hit by another boat, pretty hard, and it only gouged a small 2" x 1/4" piece out of the vinyl. If it's gloss black, you can fairly easily add a patch over it and it wouldn't look bad at all.  By the way, make sure you get a few feet of extra vinyl for future patches .... just in case.

Dude_Himself

I'm thinking of trying to DIY wrap this spring. I hate the maintenance for the gelcoat - it's just too much effort (and I'm good at it and own the professional tools).

GMSLITHO

Last year Dude_Himself posted a procedure to follow along with some recommended products for compound and wax . ifollowed it and had great results and it held up all summer long 

Dude_Himself

I did, and it lasted all season, but now it's time to repeat and 8 hours of buffing is just meh.

mattie

Saw some weird youtube vids on Poli Glow. Some real positive & some real negative. Looks to be a kind of clear coat/varnish type of thing. Don't know what to think of it.
Sounds like if you have a fairly deteriorated gel coat, PoliGlow might be the easiest quick fix. Don't know what happens when it gets all layered up over time.

Liberty44140

mattie said:

Saw some weird youtube vids on Poli Glow. Some real positive & some real negative. Looks to be a kind of clear coat/varnish type of thing. Don't know what to think of it.
Sounds like if you have a fairly deteriorated gel coat, PoliGlow might be the easiest quick fix. Don't know what happens when it gets all layered up over time.

If you prep and follow instructions it works very well on oxidation. I would not use it on nice gelcoat that can be buffed, only bad dark gelcoat that is facing a major wetland. 

As as I understand it after 5 or so years you do need to strip it off with polystrip and re coat so it doesn’t get too layered. 

rmfriday

poly glow is basically just floor tile wax.  
It is easy to apply and easy to remove if you use the correct stripper.
It creates a great shine for the money and effort required.

Liberty44140

rmfriday said:

poly glow is basically just floor tile wax.  
It is easy to apply and easy to remove if you use the correct stripper.
It creates a great shine for the money and effort required.

Completely agree

McGarnicle

I wrapped my white hull to black, and absolutely love it. 

McGarnicle

mattie

Holy snap - that looks good. Black top, swim deck done & window tint.

zaverin1

Window tint on a cruiser is absolutely a dumb mod unless it’s for looks only 
at night you can’t see ****
my buddy had on his boat for one month lol
beaides that mod and gold Rinker decal yuk
its an awesome looking boat 

Liberty44140

Windows on a center console I had were tinted which I did not like because it was impossible to see at night. But it was a mako so I could not just stand up and see clear, huge window. In this case on a 342 I think it would be just fine to tint, you can just stand up and see clear, no biggie. Tint would be nice to help with UV on the dash and cushions too. 

zaverin1

At night it’s a problem
trust me
wirh canvas up and rain I almost **** a brick 

zaverin1

Crossing a lake with commercial tankers all around 

McGarnicle

I'm 6'4 so can't see out the windshield sitting down, love the tint and glad I had it done. 

Willhound

Don't wanna hijack this thread, but now that I managed to get my hull cleaned off nice this year I'm intrigued by the Poly Glow product, may have to try in in the spring. Sounds like just what I'm looking for.

As to the original discussion regarding the vinyl wrap, a nice way to go albeit a little pricey compared to a good wax job and some sweat equity. But sounds like it would save some time and work. I'd also vote for the plain black. As per @LaRea I'm also not a fan of faux carbon fiber, but I do like it on smaller items. Some of the dash refreshes we've seen on here are pretty sharp looking.
As to the mark showing on the bottom right of the pic above on the second strake, that's a nasty scratch that I think was caused by the hydraulic trailer that our marina uses to pull boats. Gonna have to get some Spectrum Gel or some such on there before launch next spring.