Dull Paintwork (1 Viewer)

[martyn]

Has anybody got any idea how to keep a shine on the paintwork on the front cap on my R.V. As its fibreglass the shine only lasts about a week,then starts going flat.I've tried all sorts of polishes and potions with the same result,the shine goes in about a week.Short of respraying it,i'm at a loss,anyone else had this problem? Thanks in anticipation.:helpsos:

 

[Jim]

Mines the same, but with three kids taking it in turns they have two weeks off between each polish

 

[martyn]

Nice one Jim,how much do they charge?

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[American Dream]

Have you tried MER? Mer Products, the ultimate in car care and valeting

Works great on my Fibreglass car.:thumb:

 

[G2EWS]

Hi Martyn,

I am going to copy in it's entirety a thread I put on another forum with information on polishing/detailing my RV:

The Winnie detail (polishing) has started. Spent 7 hours today doing 2/3 rds of one side! About 20ft x 10ft. For my first attempt using the Porter Cable (PC) polisher I am not too fussed with the time. I did part of the RV by hand last year using T Cut and Megs Pure Wax. I took a weekend to do about 10ft x 10ft and the finish was nothing like I have achieved today. I am sure when I continue tomorrow I will be quicker with my new found experience.

Having washed the MH last week, all I did to start was use a product called Quick Detiler (QD) and a clay. These two products basically take out of the paint work any particles that have been embedded and will not come out with washing. In the detailing world this is fundamental to getting a good finish. You can tell if your car needs it by putting your hand in a plastic bag - like you get at the veg counter at supermarket - and running your hand along the paintwork. You will be amazed at just how much there is in the paintwork, even on a new car.

I used Megsuiars (Megs) One Step Compound no 67 for RV's and the yellow SFX-1 pad from my new PC kit. Spread at speed 1 and then up to 6. About three passes and then buffed up using a micro fibre (MF) cloth.

Went over this with Megs Pure Wax no 56 for RV's again about three passes using the blue high gloss polishing pad. Spread at 1 and polished at 5. Buffed up with MF cloth.

Finally I used Jetseal 109 which is an amazing product that totally seals the paint. It was developed for the aerospace industry but has recently become available for the automotive world.

For interest I had a go at cutting stage using a product called Menzerna PO85RD Final Finish as I had a couple of places where I could not get totally rid of the clouding. I found this to not work at all on the RV and reverted back to the Megs 67.

Above piccies where taken a couple of hours in. The stunning bit for me was the bottom dark grey area. This paint has been very mottled since I bought the RV and further investigation shows this is common. The paint just fell off as I was polishing. Totally wrecked the pads and had to wash part way through.

Some of the info above may not be of use to you, but I have included it for those who may wish to do the same. Anyone needing additional information please let me know and I will point you in the right direction.

Nackered now and enjoying a glass of red! Will continue with the efforts tomorrow. If I have time I may do the bonnet of the Disco.

Regards

Chris

 

[G2EWS]

Hi Martyn,

I knew I had some other information for you!

I have also bought this product

Poliglow - a proven concept in boat polish

Unfortunately I have not had the chance to try it, but if you do some research you will see that it has a great write up in the much more aggressive marine world.

I hope to get around to trying it in the near future and will report back on it's suitability.

Regards

Chris

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[martyn]

Thanks for the info. Chris, i just knew somebody would come up with an idea that i havn't tried,will let you know how i get on.:thumb:

 

[nahnotme]

Hi Martyn,

I am going to copy in it's entirety a thread I put on another forum with information on polishing/detailing my RV:

The Winnie detail (polishing) has started. Spent 7 hours today doing 2/3 rds of one side! About 20ft x 10ft. For my first attempt using the Porter Cable (PC) polisher I am not too fussed with the time. I did part of the RV by hand last year using T Cut and Megs Pure Wax. I took a weekend to do about 10ft x 10ft and the finish was nothing like I have achieved today. I am sure when I continue tomorrow I will be quicker with my new found experience.

Having washed the MH last week, all I did to start was use a product called Quick Detiler (QD) and a clay. These two products basically take out of the paint work any particles that have been embedded and will not come out with washing. In the detailing world this is fundamental to getting a good finish. You can tell if your car needs it by putting your hand in a plastic bag - like you get at the veg counter at supermarket - and running your hand along the paintwork. You will be amazed at just how much there is in the paintwork, even on a new car.

I used Megsuiars (Megs) One Step Compound no 67 for RV's and the yellow SFX-1 pad from my new PC kit. Spread at speed 1 and then up to 6. About three passes and then buffed up using a micro fibre (MF) cloth.

Went over this with Megs Pure Wax no 56 for RV's again about three passes using the blue high gloss polishing pad. Spread at 1 and polished at 5. Buffed up with MF cloth.

Finally I used Jetseal 109 which is an amazing product that totally seals the paint. It was developed for the aerospace industry but has recently become available for the automotive world.

For interest I had a go at cutting stage using a product called Menzerna PO85RD Final Finish as I had a couple of places where I could not get totally rid of the clouding. I found this to not work at all on the RV and reverted back to the Megs 67.

Above piccies where taken a couple of hours in. The stunning bit for me was the bottom dark grey area. This paint has been very mottled since I bought the RV and further investigation shows this is common. The paint just fell off as I was polishing. Totally wrecked the pads and had to wash part way through.

Some of the info above may not be of use to you, but I have included it for those who may wish to do the same. Anyone needing additional information please let me know and I will point you in the right direction.

Nackered now and enjoying a glass of red! Will continue with the efforts tomorrow. If I have time I may do the bonnet of the Disco.

Regards

Chris

Hello there
having read your post in great detail I have been attempting to bring the finish of my RV back to life.
I too initially did parts using T cut followed by CAR-E-VAN polish, the T cut did what it says on the tin the CAR-E-VAN was very patchy and hardly glossy.
Now my RV is 15 years old and has spent much of its life around the med so the sun and sea has taken the gel coating and left black streaks on the front so I know im not going to get good as new results.
I have also tried the meguires all in one compound and again found this didnt get any kind of gloss shine as it states, so I went over that with some MERS polish as I couldnt get megs locally and wasnt waiting 2 more days for delivery, which didnt look too bad after one coat. Now I note you use a quality buffer, mine is a 30 quid Halfords jobby, and I note you mention "passes" is this how many times you go over each coat with the buffer or how many coats of each stage/ product ??????
I took a leaf out of your book and purchased the quick detailer and clay, but again this seems to do very little to take the gunk out of the fibre glass.
Its costing me a fortune in products most of which are rubbish, its taken two of us tow and a half days up to now and i'de say its about a third finished.

 

[zaskar]

I used this stuff after recomendation by another RVer, possibly scotJim, cant remember.

Link Removed

Its awesome stuff, not cheap, but well worth it. Same story, rubbish finish on glassfibre end caps (sidewalls OK funnily enough-must be different glass fibre?). Tried all sorts of polishes with no satisfactory result.

Then tried StarBrite.........WOW!
No machines, no heavy duty stuff, just good quality polish, easy to hand apply and hand remove and a VERY good result.

HTH

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[45eEver]

You need to match the polish to the paint Martyn.

If you find out what it was painted with, a trade paint outlet will tell you the best cutting compound to use.

From your description, your paint has oxidised, and you need to cut it to get it's shine back.

If you chat up the foreman in your local spray shop, he may tell you what to use.
If the first one doesn't, try the next one.