Peeling Clearcoat

[3Lakes_Steve]

Thought I'd share my latest project. I'm going to try to do the DIY repair on my peeling clear coat. Lots have been said on this subject, most geared toward sand, prime, basecoat, and clearcoat. I've got an unaffordable estimate of $3000 to do just that.

This morning I got up, and thoroughly cleaned the painted fiberglass roof. In my opinion, it cleaned up very well, with car wash and soft brush first, and secondly with magic eraser. The clear coat on the roof is completely gone, but the paint appears to be in good condition. I plan to use Wet Look Zep on the surface of the roof. I've used Zep on another motorhome, and am totally happy with the results.

The radius where the clear coat is peeling will be a bit more challenging. I'm planning to use a plastic razor blade to scape the peeling line to a hard edge. Wet sand 1500 grit on remaining clearcoat, and very lightly sand the exposed basecoat. I'm not going to try and feather the peeling edge, and rather hope I've got a good, well adhered hard edge. 3 coats of raddle can 2K clear in the radius area only, will hopefully do the trick.

There is evidence that this is not the first repair to the radius area of this coach. There is a distinct line where a previous repair was done. Just got this coach last year, so don't know how long it lasted.

Last part of this project will be detailing the paint.

[3Lakes_Steve]

I first used Zep on my 2002 Hurricane, which was dull and oxidized pretty bad. It was a bit of work to get it cleaned up, and ready for the 4 coats of Zep, but couldn't be happier with the results. Motorhome was parked outside year round, and the Zep held up very well. I gave it 2 coats the second year, with only a good wash before applying. Held up very well. Applying the wax is SUPER EASY, I used a microfiber cloth over a sponge, very thin coats. Sold it the third year, on the first day it was up on craigslist. It looked Great.

My recent use of Zep is on Painted fiberglass with the clear coat worn off. I'm not sure how it will hold up, but application is so easy, I plan to give it a couple coats yearly

[garycq]

Was wondering about Zep and how long it last. Ran across it on YouTube and it looks good. But does it last a year and if not do you have to strip it then redo it? I haven't found anything that I can apply that works without requiring more work than I am capable of. At 76, retired and short on money but with an RV that needs some work I have been looking for a source that I can do help me in my endeavor to clean up my RV. I saw the Zep and I thought it was something I could do but how long would it last? Anybody out there that has used it and what was your experience?
Thanks:)

[donkeydew]

looks great!! sure hope it holds up for you. looks like you take excellent care of the old gal.

[3Lakes_Steve]

Next up, make all these scratches go away.

[3Lakes_Steve]

[3Lakes_Steve]

Well, at least for today, it looks as nice as it did on the showroom floor. Lets see how it lasts.

[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/nkua9z5l.jpg[/IMG]

[3Lakes_Steve]

Well, I spent some time this morning scraping the peeling edge of clear coat until it would no longer lift.

New Plan-- As I mentioned in an earlier post, the roof surface clear coat is completely gone. The only remaining clear runs about 2-4" above the gutter. I'm going to use Zep on the entire roof right down to the gutter. Worst case, clear continues to peel, and I need to scrape down 2-4" to the gutter & Re-ZEP.

I also mentioned earlier there was a past repair to the radius. It looks like in that area, Both factory, and repair clear were failing.
My thought is to keep the clear coat off the roof, and rely on the Zep for protection.

[sehunter]

Just a couple of months ago I had three places on mine done. He came to me with a paramedic type ambulance converted to everything he would ever need. Did the top of my front cap and a damaged cargo door and another place on the passenger side. Blended everything in perfectly, just like having a new coach. Really worth it to have it professionally done.
I started to do this myself but realized real quick that it was way above my head.

[YC_1]

My rattle can has held up quite well. My front cap was really bad so I had to sand through to the color. A local shop closely matches the color. Not perfect. I have since found a shop that should be able to match the brand and color codes. I cleared it after that. Nothing fantastic but since it is out of sight it is fine.

I spent 4.5 months painting a small plane so I know how much it can take if done to show room quality.

[3Lakes_Steve]

DSDP Don, Yea, Your probably right. But other than my time, I'll have about $200-$250 into it. If it lasts a year, I'll have 52 chances to win the lottery before it fails.

[J-Rooster]

Steve, let us know how it turns out!

[DSDP_Don]

I can tell you from experience, your repair will hold up for about a year and be right back. MANY have tried a cheap fix and there is none. It needs to be sanded, repainted and cleared again.

I did what you did and it was like cancer, it came right back. I even repainted my front cap with a quality paint, but other places popped up. I finally took it to a paint shop that painted the entire roof line for $3000.00. Problem solved.

[jplante4]

Hard to tell for sure, but is that a Beaver? Every one of those I've seen (and it's not a big number) is in great shape. I have a similar issue with the clear coat over the mural on the back of the Sahara. I'm thinking about scraping and feathering as you've suggested and covering the entire mural with Diamond Shield.

[3Lakes_Steve]

The full body paint is in great shape on this 1994, 23 year old beauty. We love this coach!