Exterior renovation

[vman60]

I was wondering if anyone has tried to restore the outside fiberglass of a motorhome wiith any of today's products? I have seen several companies offer compounds that will restore the original luster such as Vivilon.
My coach is a 1988 Fleetwood Bounder 34S and is faded and chalkey. Painting it will cost thousands and much more than its worth. It was in Arizona up until a year ago when I purchased it. Painting it will only last a few years anyway. So if anyone has had any luck in restoring the outside finish I would love to hear what they used. Thanks. Tony

[TXiceman]

If you properly paint it with a urethane paint, it will last many years with proper care.

Not much can be done for faded and curled graphics. A boat fiberglass product called Gelgloss will help it, but it is a lot of work.

Ken

[vman60]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TXiceman If you properly paint it with a urethane paint, it will last many years with proper care. Not much can be done for faded and curled graphics. A boat fiberglass product called Gelgloss will help it, but it is a lot of work. Ken

Thanks for the reply. I didn't notice a few threads below had the same topic. I think I will try that red max pro3 1st to see if there is any results. As far as the original striping and graphics, I am going to strip it all off and re-stripe the coach with new and a different blend of colors.

[Ragingbull]

Vinyl Graphics can be removed. Red Max Pro does wonders on Gelcoat. A Good quality fibercloth towel makes it easy to apply. Give that a try!

[Superslif]

Try a product called "Gel-Gloss" sold at RV and boat dealers. I been useing it for 12 years. They sell two versions, one is a cleaner and a wax, the other adds a UV protector HD Gel Gloss RV

Two weeks ago we were camping with friends who bought a used 96' tt where it looked like it had not been cleaned in 10 years. It was so oxidized. It took about 30 minutes to clean the back side of the tt.. After letting it haze up after it dried. and wiped it off, it was actually shining....It even surprised me....

A half gallon will cost about $22 for the non-UV Gel-Gloss and about 40% more for the one (HD RV Gel-Gloss) version.

[vman60]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ragingbull Vinyl Graphics can be removed. Red Max Pro does wonders on Gelcoat. A Good quality fibercloth towel makes it easy to apply. Give that a try!

I have probably a few hundred micro fiber towels, as I have a high dollar 1 of 5 made custom chopper and a heritage classic that I show and thats all I use on them because of the chrome and paint. I really need to do some research on what best to use to remove all the striping. Some of its cracked and some just faded. It would be nice if there was some petrolieum base solvent that you could put on it and it would just disolve the striping without harming the fiberglass.

[Senior Chief]

Methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) will dissolve the adhesive on some stripes, allowing you to scrape them off; will also take off lots of paints. You do NOT want to be messing with a solvent that would dissolve vinyl...

The simplest way is to use a hair dryer and a flat blade scraper; removed our 20 year old decals in nothing flat. Removing the old adhesive with acetone and a scrubbie took longer. You will undoubtedly have shadows of some kind afterward.

Red Max Pro #3, (after a good cleaning with Bar Keepers Friend ) will restore a like-new shine to even the oldest, most oxidized gelcoat in 4 or 5 quick coats. No rubbing or buffing, just wipe on. It dries almost immediately, takes just a few hours to coat your whole rig.

$15 a gallon at Lowe's, and a gallon will do your entire coach plus your neighbors.

[Ragingbull]

Quote:

Originally Posted by vman60 I have probably a few hundred micro fiber towels, as I have a high dollar 1 of 5 made custom chopper and a heritage classic that I show and thats all I use on them because of the chrome and paint. I really need to do some research on what best to use to remove all the striping. Some of its cracked and some just faded. It would be nice if there was some petrolieum base solvent that you could put on it and it would just disolve the striping without harming the fiberglass.

Goo Gone has a product ina spray bottle that I am using on my 84 Winni. its working great. After removing the old stripes I've buffed using fine buffing polish and following up with Red Max pro. I'll post photos in a couple days. It does wonders

[whem2fish]

i have not tried redmax yet herd lots of good reviews my 2 cents use bartenders best friend to remove chalkeness then i used mop n glow it was easy love the results at the time i didnt know about redmax. now last year i used meguires compound and wax loved the results but after 2 weeks on the coast couple storms the wax came off

[Hoverbug]

Wanted to add my two cents to removing old dried stripes. After checking with restoration body shops the consensus led me to Astro Smart Eraser Pads. They are 4inch by 5/8 inch rubber disks with a stud to attach to a drill. I began Saturday using an electric drill but needed more rpm so I have ordered a kit of 12 pads and a pneumatic drill from SmallParts.com: The Hardware Store for Researchers and Developers. An Amazon company. The process works well but is tedious with a lot of rubber residue. 3M decal solvent works for removal of glue residue. Be careful using acetone on fiberglas. it can damage the gelcote. I also have a heatgun and sue a metal spatula as a scraper. The spatula has rounded corners whereas putty scrapers have sharp corners which will gauge the gelcote if you are not careful. So far it has been about 3 hours to remove 15 feet of stripes. When finished with the removal I will wash the rig with Scrubbing Bubbles spray and then polish with a couple of coats on Aerospace 303. We will eventually paint a solid color stripe but have as yet not determined a color. It really has not been as hard as I thought it would be.

[Chuck 1935]

If you get tired of doing the job yourself, give these guys a call. they did a great job on my coach !
The R.V. re-styling specialists!!!