GEL Coat options on new to us camper

[solar07]

Hello all,

Back for another question for us new to the camping world. I had my 2010 SunnyBrook Harmony 269 THX detailed today and I am told by the detail guy (specializes in RV and campers) that the reason some of my camper is dull is due to the gel coat has burned off from being stored outside by the previous owner. The claim is there is not much I can do.

My question is, is this truly the case? Is there a way or companies that will re gel coat (or clear coat?) My decals are it good shape so I wouldn't even mind if the coating went right over them as opposed to removing. Thank you for any advice on bringing back the shine.

Also, I have some rubber seals/molding I would like to replace. on the side and back. He said most of the times new pieces are not going to stay on. Is that pretty much the case?

Thank you all for your time in helping me out!

[Steve76eb]

solar07 wrote:


Why will it only last for 2-3 months? This will occur even if I seal it with a quality sealant/wax and store it under a roof?

If you have the fading front cap issue on the gel coat front caps, nothing is going to save it short of a paint job. Many many have tried and its a short term, temporary fix to buff and wax it. Many were repainted under warranty and the many others were told sorry and left to hung out to dry. I see many going down the freeways with the faded front caps. My neighbor just put a wrap on his to hide that eyesore as his dealer was no help to him.

If it is truly all the fiberglass on your trailer that has gone chalky, you might have to go as far as wet sanding it down, then wool pad with compound, finishing pad, and then wax. Or maybe try some Aqua-Buff and see what happens.

[solar07]

B.O. Plenty wrote:
You can buff til the Cows come home. It will last about 2-3 months. Best cure is a quality base coat/ clear coat paint job. All the major manufacturers are doing this as they have had nothing but problems with gel coat caps fading. Look at any five to ten year old rig with a full body paint job and you can see how it holds up. Any big truck bodyshop will be able to do this. They will have a big enough paint booth.

B.O.

Why will it only last for 2-3 months? This will occur even if I seal it with a quality sealant/wax and store it under a roof?

[B_O__Plenty]

You can buff til the Cows come home. It will last about 2-3 months. Best cure is a quality base coat/ clear coat paint job. All the major manufacturers are doing this as they have had nothing but problems with gel coat caps fading. Look at any five to ten year old rig with a full body paint job and you can see how it holds up. Any big truck bodyshop will be able to do this. They will have a big enough paint booth.

B.O.

[LONGY]

Solar - google up "gelcoat buffing" (or polishing) Lots of articles out there. Most gel coat products come in a 'line' in order of use, ranging from final finish protective waxes to coarse rubbing compounds. How coarse a product you need is determined by your own coating - start finer first, than use coarser if needed. Your gel coat is probably about a mm thick - this can be checked by removing something cut into surface. Unless surface is extremely oxidized, treatment will only use a couple of microns of the coating. Final protection is by any quality wax (not wax/polish combo) Re-apply wax yearly (or more, based on your UV exposure)
Your detailer is clueless. Find a boat service outfit near you to hire it out if you need it done. This is routine on fiberglass boats.

[Steve76eb]

Frankandbeans wrote:
I highly doubt your gelcoat is burned off. More than likely it's faded and needs to be buffed out. You will need:

A quality buffer (Porter Cable 7424xp or such)

The PC 7424 is a quality dual action polisher. Not a high speed buffer which will be required to work on the faded fiberglass. My 2013 Fuzion had the fading front cap issue and I removed all the front decals and used a high speed buffer with a good fiberglass cutting compound and followed up with a marine fiberglass wax. Looked good, not perfect, but much better than before.

It was only going to return within time and the only solution was painting the cap. After the buff job I sold the trailer off on Craigslist, so I don't know how long the buff job lasted for the next owner.

[joebedford]

My 5 year old truck was looking very dull from sitting outside all that time. Running my fingers over it, I could feel bumps and actually HEAR them.

I "clay bar'd" it. Now it's nice and shiny and smooth and I'm parking it inside.

Maybe that will work for your RV. Not hard to do.

[solar07]

I noticed this as well, after the detailing was done there was some chaulky white residue on the concrete. He claimed that was the paint and it wouldn't do that if the gel coat was still there... I figured that could be from the roof tho running off onto the sides. Thing was probably never washed up there before.

If I go to cut and polish, what goes on after to protect it? Any car sealant work or something rv specific?

Thanks all

[theoldwizard1]

solar07 wrote:

How do I find if there is coating left to survive? The detailer led me to believe the gel coat was burned through and completely gone.

On a boat, you would start seeing the pattern of the fiberglass.

About the only way to "burn through" it is excessive buffing/polishing compound and too heavy of a hand with a power buffer. This can happen if you are trying to the original color after the sun causes it to fade/yellow.

[eDUBz]

Start buffing it with a good compound, I recommend 3M compound purple bottle white cap and 3M polish purple bottle blue cap. If you cut through it, it will burn the gel coat Into the paint. If cut and polishing doesn't work take it to a Auto Body shop and have them prep and re clear coat it, clear coat right over the Declas also.

[Frankandbeans]

I highly doubt your gelcoat is burned off. More than likely it's faded and needs to be buffed out. You will need:

A quality buffer (Porter Cable 7424xp or such)
A good cutting compound
A good polishing compound
A ton of microfiber towels
And a lot, a lot, of elbow grease, time, and patience.

But it definitely can be done as I did it to my 2005 Forest River.

[wirenutz]

in my case the stickers were pealing off, and that lead to removing the worst of them, and only to find how white it was under the stickers, that lead to a complete wet sanding of the entire 42 feet, top to bottom and I applied 5 coats of ZEP wet look floor polish with a micro fiber cloth, that was 2 years ago, and it still shines like new

[Sam_Spade]

LONGY wrote:
Go to a boating store & see what they have.

THIS. But give this thread a few more days....and do a search here for similar threads, maybe using GEL for the search.

There are products that will protect what is left and restore a little of the gloss; they go on like auto waxes. Old threads on here had several recommendations.

IF it is weathered to the point that the surface looks kind of like burlap material, then nothing will help much except for the mentioned epoxy paint.

[solar07]

LONGY wrote:
Gel coat does fade from UV exposure. It can be brought back by rubbing or polishing compounds which cut thru faded layer to expose 'new' gel coat. Only issue is declas over the gel coat, very hard to polish right up to decals & not damage them. Go to a boating store & see what they have. Test on small section. Decals could be taped over to protect them during process. LP paint is last resort but will survive well. Auto paints do not have quite the shine of LP but can be repaired from future damage much easier.

How do I find if there is coating left to survive? The detailer led me to believe the gel coat was burned through and completely gone. Being a 2010 that seemed crazy to me even though stored outside but I am still learning.

We are saying the other option would be to clear coat over the whole camper (decals and all?). I only paid 10k for the toy hauler so I don't want to blow the bank on this but do want to make it nice as I can and dont mind throwing some money and time at it.

[LONGY]

Gel coat does fade from UV exposure. It can be brought back by rubbing or polishing compounds which cut thru faded layer to expose 'new' gel coat. Only issue is declas over the gel coat, very hard to polish right up to decals & not damage them. Go to a boating store & see what they have. Test on small section. Decals could be taped over to protect them during process. LP paint is last resort but will survive well. Auto paints do not have quite the shine of LP but can be repaired from future damage much easier.