PWC Restoration
 

Soooo...my wife drove my Sea-Doo the other day and now wants one. 30 minutes after doing so, a friend messaged that he was selling his and now it looks like I'll be buying it Saturday.

The issue is that it's a '12 that has been mechanically maintained perfectly but not so much cosmetically.

Any suggestions for: restoring "black" to the plastics, cleaning up the gauge cluster, cleaning down the hull, etc.?

I currently use SC-1 on my new machine, and it works amazingly well, but I think that's for maintaining what hasn't already been lost.

Thanks!

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Have her ride it a few times then she’ll want a new one. If it’s a two stroke shell definitely want a new one. Problem solved. Get your order in now for next year delivery.

Think, for a guy who is usually such a good thinker, I'm a bit surprised you do not see where this is headed...

Take JTA's advice--the second best PWC is going to be yours ;)

Hahahaha!

Soooo...dear wife can't open the storage on my ski (it's the direct access with kinda hard pull tabs to open), so she'll be getting the older one.

At the price I'm getting it for, I should be able to use it a year or two and sell it for at least what I'm paying. I'll be just under 100 hours on my ski with a TON of riding last year, so I'm thinking 50 hours a summer at most.

At that point, we'll know if she's actually gonna ride!

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Bring it to the fiberglass place a little down from Dasylvas, they can make it look new, not sure how much, but I had some minor damage repaired there a while back, they were reasonable and you could not tell where the damage was.

Unique Restoration?

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Yes, thank you.

Thanks for the tip. I'll give them a ring to get a sense of pricing.

Anyone have favorite products for what I'm doing? I just read an article on using a heat gun to bring black plastics back, so that may be an option...

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Pull tabs…
For a small fee I will not inform her on the miracle potion called WD40! ;)

Depending upon what the problem is try "Back to Black". It is sold where you buy automotive wax.

I use it when I get wax on black things like mirror trim and it works great. I used it on my Yamaha Waverunner and it really brought the color out on the black trim.

I sympathize. I almost can't open it on ours. Every time I use it I think, "What were the designers thinking, and did they even try it before building?!"

Diamondshine
 

You've seen my posts elsewhere. I think Diamondshine and ceramic coating can do exactly what you want. My 1994 Sea Ray looks brand new. They can give you an estimate on the phone: 293-0378. Not cheap, but very fair pricing for top quality work.

Another Path
 

Another way is to have the ski wrapped - new custom set of decals.

Do a search on eBay - you will find a host of vendors that offer wraps for the exact ski you have.

Of course I'm not sure what state the ski is in but in some cases this gives an appearance of better than new given the custom looks you can get

Good luck and send us some before and after shots independent of your direction

Great ideas, thanks all.

I've got messages in at Diamond Shine and Unique Restoration.

It appears wrap kits start at $200 and go up from there.

Ultimately, what I do will be heavily dependent on price. Though I'm getting the ski/trailer for a very good price, the value will be greatly diminished (without affecting overall enjoyment) if I put too much money into cosmetics.

Back to Black sounds good—anything else people might suggest?

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I'll update with notes: Unique Restoration does not have a "chemical" process to restore—they would simply replace what needed to be replaced and, if necessary, work on fiberglass repair.

The "products" approach, I was told, might get it to 80%, which may be very sufficient.

For a suggestion of whom else to connect with, he offered Getty and Diamond Shine.

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Good people there, thanks for the update.

Ok, so I got the ski yesterday. Runs great and, cosmetically, is pretty good. There are three major things I'll need to figure out: scuffs on the fiberglass, restoring the black color of some of the plastics, and figuring out what to do with the deck/feet padding. I'll post photos of what I'm starting with later.

My starting ideas: heat gun and/or SC1 for the blacks, WD-40 for any stickers/remaining glue residue, and Magic Erasers for the scuffs.

Thoughts on any of these? I know I need to be gentle with the Magic Erasers, but it appears if I am that they might solve that problem.

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OK, I got the stickers off and cleaned up using WD-40. Yay!

It appears the black plastics will be fine with a coat or two of SC-1.

I need help with the last two things: scuff marks from ratchet straps (the previous owner threw a strap over the back of the ski to tie down rather than use the tow loops) and some orangish water stains in the footwells.

I've seen some good things about Bar Keepers friend, and it's cheap. The alternative I've found is Starlite Hull Cleaner.

Thoughts on either of these?

I have an '18 and a '20, mine are both a nightmare to open.

For any vinyl trim suggest you go with Turtle Wax trim restorer, $6.97 at Wallyworld, and a small scrubber sponge. It's this thick gooey clear stuff that soaks into the vinyl and works best on a warm day. ..... works on tire side walls too to give those Goodyear Viva-3 black tires a fancy EXOTIC look and make them look like $150-big money tires.

While I have no experience with PWC plastics I can tell you what helped my dirt bike plastics look better.

I used Armor All and they looked shiny and new.

For light scuffs on fiberglass try Meguiar's Scratch X available at auto parts stores.

It has worked well on the light dock rash on my boat.

How long after you used Armor All did you have the machines? I ask because there used to be a lot of talk about how AA would look nice at first but then dry plastics out to the point of cracking over time.

I've used the SC-1 stuff for two summers now and, in addition to giving a nice gloss and slightly darker blacks, it acts like Rain-X, making water bead off and almost no maintenance required. It's pretty awesome stuff...and smells nice, too!

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I have not heard about Armor All having that issue but right after my plastics were tuned up I sold the bike. :D

They both work, they're both mild abrasives. Depending on what the stain is actually from, an acid wash may also be a good option, assuming typical gelcoat in the footwells.