Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

Going to clear coat the pontoons this spring. Trying to decide between Shark hide and Toonbrite. Are there any other products out there? Recommendations? Thanks. Dale

I tried to put Sharkhide on my boat, but there was too much black aluminum oxide in the cracks, welds and slag. All I got was black smudges. And to clean the whole boat with lacquer cleaner over and over was just too much work.

If and when my boat tarnishes, I can polish the nosecones and side toons in an hour or so with a D/A polisher and White Diamond metal polish. I now have the hang of it.

I had a lot of success with SharkHide. The link below to my thread on this with pics.

http://forums.iboats.com/pontoons/befor ... 94400.html

Cycleman07 wrote:I had a lot of success with SharkHide. The link below to my thread on this with pics.

http://forums.iboats.com/pontoons/befor ... 94400.html

My Manitou had the ToonBrite from the factory, it looked good for a year or so, then started turning a dull gold color. Then I stripped, polished and Sharkhided. I fully stand behind the Sharkhide. If you rub against something and take it off, its real easy to reapply. Its been good on the Premier, as well.
Bryan

Bamaman wrote:I can polish the nosecones and side toons in an hour or so with a D/A polisher and White Diamond metal polish.

Wow - that ought to do the trick...until you "polish" a hole in your toon!!!

I think it should be stated that Shark Hide is a protectant more than a polish. It protects against Water Lines, Water Spots, Oxidation etc. If your tubes look like crap it will not fix that.

Unfortunately, aluminum is one of the worst metals to corrode and oxidize particularly when exposed to the elements.
Nothing short of chemical anodizing is going to last for a long period of time. So I have resigned myself to
just stop worrying about keeping the logs looking like new. too damn much work anyway!
I spray them down with AlumaBrite once a year, rinse and repeat next year. The rest of the time I just enjoy the
toon experience when I "motorboat" with the wifey!

Bamaman wrote:I tried to put Sharkhide on my boat, but there was too much black aluminum oxide in the cracks, welds and slag. All I got was black smudges. And to clean the whole boat with lacquer cleaner over and over was just too much work.

If and when my boat tarnishes, I can polish the nosecones and side toons in an hour or so with a D/A polisher and White Diamond metal polish. I now have the hang of it.

I know what you mean! I had to pretty much pour the lacquer cleaner over the spots which collected the polish and crap. White Diamond? Work good? I'm all out of the Sharkhide polish and need to buy some more. I have plenty of protectant left over. But I really went through the polish!

Cycleman07 wrote:I think it should be stated that Shark Hide is a protectant more than a polish. It protects against Water Lines, Water Spots, Oxidation etc. If your tubes look like crap it will not fix that.

Clint does make and sell Sharkhide polish, but ya, the Sharkhide protectant is a whole other beast. What ever the tubes look like before it goes on, is how they are gonna look afterwards, only very shiny! I would call it more of a shellac than a glazing or clearcoat, what do you think Bama? But it sure is easy to apply and re-apply if you have any spots that get messed up. The ToonBrite on my Manny peeled off like a car with a delaminated clear coat.
Best way I can describe it. Its kinda like a cosmoline that hardens.
Clint! Better step in and help us, Buddy!

The White Diamond polish picked up at Advance Auto Parts is really some good stuff. I previously tried to use Mothers' Aluminum polish, and it was junk. (I'm sure there are other great polishes on the market commonly used to polish heavy truck aluminum saddle tanks and milk truck tanks.)

The White Diamond has a rouge in it, and a liquid. As you run the dual action polisher w/wool bonnet up and down, back and forth, the polish pushes black paste (oxide) around. After about 90 seconds, the black stuff turns to a powder and suddenly disappears into the air. You just have to remove the rest of the powder with a towel or rag to get to the shine.

I just couldn't get all the black oxide out of the welds and slag on the toons. Apply Sharkhide, and it'll really smudge. It's just a big, big job to clean tubes with lacquer thinner. Like I said earlier, it's easier to repolish than remove the aftermath.

Thankfully my boat lives 3' out of the water in an enclosed boathouse. It gets minimal weather/water. If you're ordering a new Bennington, just take the Sharkhide option and it'll be applied on day one before the tarnish begins.

I am thinking about polishing now instead of clear coat. Will this hold up in salt water? I trailer the boat. Thanks

DFW wrote:I am thinking about polishing now instead of clear coat. Will this hold up in salt water? I trailer the boat. Thanks

You'll still need to protect the polished surface with either a clearcoat such as ToonBright or the protectant, Sharkhide. I prefer the Sharkhide, because it is so easy to fix after it gets messed up, and believe me, it will get messed up.
If you need help with the polishing, Call Herb! He did a great job on his!

Rememeber that oxidation is aluminums way of protercting itself from the elements. A layer of oxidation is a layer of protection. Everytime you remove a layer of oxidation, you are removing a layer of aluminum.

I would either clean it once and Sharkshide it, or let it oxidize and live with it.

We put Sharkshide on in 2003. We rubbedon a tree and wore the Sharkshide off in a 6" X6" area. It turned blackish/grey. Other than that, ourtoons look like new other than water marks which wash off, but keep komng back.