restoring the shine

[Deano56]

I have decided that the next project will be painting the bottom portion of our motorhome which is galvanized then sanding and buffing the fiberglass. I sanded a area around 18" square starting with 220 and worked my way up to 600 then machine polished to a real nice shine. The sanding was with a 5" orbital, looks like a month long or more job but like the way the sides come back to life. The end caps don't look near as bad as the sides being that its a nicer gel coat job. Almost thought about painting the whole thing. Ouch , anyone else done the same?

[wirenutz]

I always thought boats had gel coats, and RV's had clear coats from the factory ?

[wny_pat1]

wirenutz wrote:

Rascally Road Warrior wrote:
You should consider using or buying a rotary polisher. You could probably get a cheap one at Harbor Freight for under $50. They also sell the wool pads that you'll need to do the job. I an going to assume that this is a gelcoat finish.

Order some Presta Super Cut Compound (Google it) and go to work. Follow through with some Meguiars #105 with your orbital and a yellow cutting pad. The Presta has a 600 cutting grit and the Meg's has a 1200 cutting grit which finishes to a mirror shine. We rarely ever wet sand going this route and our customers are wowed by the results.

would this method work even if the clear coat is completely wore off ?

You guys are talking two different finishes. Gelcoat and Clear Coat are different!!!

[mike_brez]

Deano56 wrote:
. Either way I will be doing extensive sanding to get it free of the matting showing throughh on the side panels.

Are the sides Filon?

[wirenutz]

Rascally Road Warrior wrote:
You should consider using or buying a rotary polisher. You could probably get a cheap one at Harbor Freight for under $50. They also sell the wool pads that you'll need to do the job. I an going to assume that this is a gelcoat finish.

Order some Presta Super Cut Compound (Google it) and go to work. Follow through with some Meguiars #105 with your orbital and a yellow cutting pad. The Presta has a 600 cutting grit and the Meg's has a 1200 cutting grit which finishes to a mirror shine. We rarely ever wet sand going this route and our customers are wowed by the results.

would this method work even if the clear coat is completely wore off ?

[Rascally_Road_W]

You should consider using or buying a rotary polisher. You could probably get a cheap one at Harbor Freight for under $50. They also sell the wool pads that you'll need to do the job. I an going to assume that this is a gelcoat finish.

Order some Presta Super Cut Compound (Google it) and go to work. Follow through with some Meguiars #105 with your orbital and a yellow cutting pad. The Presta has a 600 cutting grit and the Meg's has a 1200 cutting grit which finishes to a mirror shine. We rarely ever wet sand going this route and our customers are wowed by the results.

[Deano56]

I have a 1990 Champion LaSalle, there is no clear coat on this model, it is metal on the bottom and fiberglass up to the roof line, near chalky and has lost most of its shine.If I were to put an applied gloss it would be an automotive clear coat which I don't plan on doing unless this is way more time consuming. Either way I will be doing extensive sanding to get it free of the matting showing throughh on the side panels.

[wirenutz]

can you give us some info on your rig, year model make, I'm watching this post as 1 side of my fifth wheel the clear coat is gone, must of had that side facing west for a long time, so I might learn a few things, I have heard of some using clear coat that is used for wood flooring, and another one called island Girl (Google that one)