Restoring the dull and badly oyidized exterior

[wkentusa]

I have wasted a total of about three weeks in the last 2 years rubbing and waxing (5 coats each time) this 37 foot Fleetwood Pace Arrow MH and only to have it last about 3 months before the streaks start again and the surface is full of chalk again and then I start over.

I've been told - full body paint - but @ $10,000.00, forget about it!!! Before you know I could have just gone out and bought a new one for all I've got in this one.

Want something that will last for a few years and not cost me more than $1000.00 but will make it look better than new - wishful thinking!!!

Suggestions???

Is it natural for an Onan/Cummins, Gas generator to be burning over a gallan an hour with a light load and almost 2.5 GPH on a hot day with everything on? Just had a new rotor and complete service at Cummins in Hurshey last year. Thought after that it would be good?

Any ideas?

[Horsedoc]

"Are you sure the streaks are not coming from the roof? I've had this happen to my old 5er. I cleaned and conditioned the roof and everything was fine. Just a thought."

Chances are that gemert (see above post) has nailed the problem. Wash and scrub the roof very thoroughly. Then try your exterior restoration experiments. The rubber roofs have a white top layer and as they age, this surface will break down (chalk) and run down the sides when it rains, leaving white streaks.

[GREGORYJ]

I was very impressed with Meguiars #49 Marine/RV oxidation remover followed by Maguiars Flagship Marine Wax. If oxidation is bad, repeat use of the oxidation
remover process before waxing.

[JLG44]

ZEP is the way to go. If you get black streaks after using ZEP do not use black streak remover. Just clean a little harder with DAWN dish washing soap.

[gemert]

wkentusa wrote:
I have wasted a total of about three weeks in the last 2 years rubbing and waxing (5 coats each time) this 37 foot Fleetwood Pace Arrow MH and only to have it last about 3 months before the streaks start again and the surface is full of chalk again and then I start over.

I've been told - full body paint - but @ $10,000.00, forget about it!!! Before you know I could have just gone out and bought a new one for all I've got in this one.

Want something that will last for a few years and not cost me more than $1000.00 but will make it look better than new - wishful thinking!!!

Suggestions???

Is it natural for an Onan/Cummins, Gas generator to be burning over a gallan an hour with a light load and almost 2.5 GPH on a hot day with everything on? Just had a new rotor and complete service at Cummins in Hurshey last year. Thought after that it would be good?

Any ideas?

Are you sure the streaks are not coming from the roof? I've had this happen to my old 5er. I cleaned and conditioned the roof and everything was fine. Just a thought.

[D_E_Bishop]

Okay, I'll get in on this one. I don't know about the ZEP preparation that jonbushr talked about but I used Barkeeps Friend, washed first, washed after BF and them washed with clear water after that. Applied to filon using three or four thin coats, looked great.

Three or four years later with washing and touch ups and long exposure to sun and tens of thousands of miles and I'm redoing the whole thing. The front cap is the worst looking. I tried the ZEP remover, forget that. It would take ten years to remove the RMP. I am using 800 grit wet and dry on a HF Jitterbug sander to remove the worst or all and on inside radius using 3M 800/1000 grit w/d sponge pads. Not sanding blocks, pads. I'm not getting any orbital sanding marks but even with well used wet and dry its sort of shiny but still dull.

It is a lot of work. Of course my rig is almost 25 years old and never housed under cover or inside. The decals are shot, even the scotchlite which is designed for extended UV exposure is cracked, faded and no longer reflective.

Most of the painted stripes look great, while an inch away the filon looks like c**p.

There are several places where the factory workers forgot to seal or didn't use enough sealer(butyl tape) and I have extensive water invasion. I am making repairs and using the butyl tape and dicor non-sag caulking, wet sanding and painting to match the color of the filon.

I really don't know why I'm going to all this work. I'm hoping that we will buy another rig this summer and just wholesale this one off. It is a great rig, design wise and feature wise, it just has a few leaks. I sure hope that when we find a new rig that the owner will understand when I remove a few screws and check for water damage below the surface. I have had it with mild steel screws that rust and plastic trim that falls apart. I want to be able to wash and dry the rig when we get home and not go around repairing six new things the DW found wrong while I was driving.

Okay my rant is over and I hope I didn't get too far off topic. I love the life style and will not leave it until I have to give up my drivers license. RVing is fantastic and the best way to see the wonders of this fantastic country.

[rgatijnet1]

From a previous discussion on using interior floor polish(Zep) on your RV

TechWriter wrote:

hershey wrote:

Suggest you do a search for Red Max Pro on this forum and decide.

OK. From this & previous threads . . .

Peg Leg wrote:
I'm doing my cap now. I had the ZEP, won't do that again.

Dog Trainer wrote:
I used the Red Max and after 2 years the coach started to yellow. I had to get the s**t off and the finish back it was a big job.

timmac wrote:
Do not let the stripper sit to long because it will melt the fiberglass and turn it yellow . . . What I learned about the Zep wax is the hot desert sun will still shrink the stripes and the wax will turn white on those areas, only my south facing side had the issue, the north facing side no issues after 2 years.

Bumpyroad wrote:
I bought a couple of gallons of it when it was being cleared out and did use a little of it on my winnie before trading it, and the rest is still sitting in my garage. putting it on is easy, maintaining it is difficult.

larry barnhart wrote:
I also have some flaking on the entry side. Nobody has prepared any better than what I did or even close to the work I did. I still feel it is better than 2 to 3 wax jobs each year. I will have to wait until we arrive back home in April to correct the problem.
chevman

fizikpal wrote:

I had some flaking on the rear end of the coach which gets beat up by the sun. I used Zep floor striper. It was a major pain to remove the finish. The chemicals run before they loosen the wax.

chast wrote:
Been using this stuff for about five years now and have removed it several times.

royl wrote:
I did the Zep floor finish process on my motorhome last fall. It looked great but now I am in the desert southwest and the wax is turning white and peeling off only on the stripes on the sides of the motorhome. It is still fine on the white where it stays cooler but on the dark gray stripes it is peeling bad. Any ideas? How could I remove the wax on the stripes and not affect the white parts? I would hate to start a whole new process.

Weldon wrote:
My RMP started to flake last year. I washed it and put more RMP on. 4 coats, this year the flaking is worse. I do feel the prep was done correctly in the beginning. I have used Zep stripper to remove the old floor polish and it was quite a job getting it off. Also used some compound on it which helped. The ends which seem to be gel coat were the bad area for me, the filon sides did not show any flaking. Used Nufinish this time.

larry barnhart wrote:
I have had some flaking on the dark green decals.

[btilfan]

one word....ZEP

[jonbushsr]

My rig sat in the sun for 10 years before I got it. I used a angle buffer and orange hand cleaner (as a compound) to remove the oxidation.
After unsatifactorily trying various waxes on small areas, I decided to use Red Max Pro. The whole rig was washed and then cleaned with their prep and four thin coats of Red Max Pro was applied. The results are still outstanding, even after almost three years.

I think the key is the amount of prep work and thin coats of the polish.

[Gjac]

You don't say what year your MH is. If it is old and highly oxidized there is only 2 ways to bring back the shine. The first is a hi speed buffer and polishing compound then wax. It is a lot of work and you need good shoulders. The second way is to use the Zeps floor wax process. Both are time consuming. I have done both. I have had both rotator cuff repaired so I find the buffing more difficult now. My MH is 18 years old and at 15 years I applied the Zeps and it still looks good. So the answer depends on how old your MH is and how oxidized is it and how old is the owner and what kind of shape are you in.

[Dog_Trainer]

Use 3M heavy duty compound ( available at O'REilly's) with a variable speed buffer ( Available at Harbor Freight for under $50.00 ) This will bring back the gloss to the worst oxidized surface. When you get it shining then you put a sealer on it many use 2001 or Nu-finish I use Gel-Gloss. If you want the finish back you must buff it to get the original luster. I tried the red-max but ended up taking it off. There is no comparison side by side tho the original luster. You must use a lower speed on the buffer or you can burn the finish. I think about 600 rpm will keep you in the safe zone. It is not that bad to do.

[jerseyjim]

I had the same problem. Gelcoat. Using my motorhome as often as I did...other than washing the exterior....I let it go. So.....unable to "reclaim" anything that looked decent, I had the lower 1/3 (the blue/silver) repainted.
Sanded, all the doors and lights removed, (including the grill) painted and put back together with new ss hardware....$4000.00
The upper 2/3rds...(white with decals) did not have to get repainted. Compounding, polish and wax brought that up to almost new.

I had the job done at a local truck/car/RV repair shop that has a first class paint shop as part of their complex.

[gbopp]

Have you considered ZEP or Red Max Pro?
It did a nice job on our 96 Southwind.

[Blackcell]

I just got done with one side using Meguiar's M4965 Marine/RV Fiberglass Restoration System and the results are impressive. Unless you have herculean arms you'll need a high speed buffer. For the decals I use 303 Aerospace Protectant.

[path1]

Gas generator to be burning over a gallon an hour with a light load and almost 2.5 GPH on a hot day with everything on?

My owners manual (4KW) states... 50% load, the fuel consumption is approx 80% of US gallon per hour.

Seems to be accurate statement IMO because when we subtract for gen run time MPG numbers turn out accurate.