Would you gloss an older motorhome?

W

Wetstuff

'Found a really well kept 15yr old Winnebago that is very nice but it sure doesn't have any gloss left in its (unknown) finish. My wife drools when a new Sprinter conversion go by. I figure I can add a star to the grill and a Sprinter badge to the back — if I can gloss it up good.

I have done old boats before with compound and a buffer, but that was gelcoat. I am not sure what Winnie used, but I would like a finish I can powerwash clean and not have to detail so often.

If you would - how/what would the basic prep be? I mess with vinyl on smaller pieces, but cannot imagine attempting to skin a 30' slab. Thanks.

Jim
 
Lot of buffing and waxing but still may not come out that great, lot of fade or checking of finish . What do you mean " skin a 30' slab " Just a side note looked at a 2000 36 ' Bounder that owner painted in his shop cheapen the coach looked real bad.
 
ET... 'Skin' ...doing a wrap. I thought of a simple full paint: Silver/Grays/Black, but I'd bet that would affect resale (like that Bounder you saw) if it was not done #1. Old people like things 'the way they were'; I don't think it wise to challenge those beliefs if we decided to not keep it more than a year.

Jim
 
Im guessing this is a slick sided RV(not metal paneling)?
If so, they can be painted or just a fiberglass skin. If its just a basic tan/white its probably just fiberglass and the typical buff and polish would work.
But the high end coaches are painted. My girlfriend's uncle works as a painter at an RV place that deals with mostly high end coaches. I cant imagine spraying something that big. I remember him talking about one time they were experimenting with some new tape, and he spent all afternoon/evening laying the graphics out on the sides of this thing and came in the next morning and half of it was on the floor of the booth.

Oh yeah, if it is an older RV(well any slick side RV) one thing you want to look for closely is humps in the exterior walls. This can be a sign of delaminiation. The glass layer is pretty thin, maybe a 1/8" give or take. Its then glued to a foam sheet or some other structural panel. Over time it can become disbonded and you get these waves/humps. If you see a hump push on it, if it feels like an air pocket the panel is disbonding and will only get worse.
 
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I painted on accent stripes then cleared the entire trailer. No more buffing dull Gel coat.
Cleaned entire trailer with dish soap and a red Scotchbrite pad then sprayed.
P1010719.JPG P1010720.JPG
 
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Prepping can be with gray scuff pad and prep paste, or back in the days before prep pastes became common we used to use powdered kitchen cleansers like "Comet" or "Ajax". Even a solution of "Dawn" dish soap or the like can be used, as long as it's not any of the fancy kinds with hand lotion.
 
Cool, Mustang. That's what I was talking about. Clearly, a big-azz job tho'. Thanks. Jim
 
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