Restoring Shine to Severely Oxidized RV

[OxidizedRV]

I have an RV that is severely oxidized. It has fiberglass sides and end caps. All is clear coated. I removed all the decals and now need to polish and protect it. The spots where the decals were look factory fresh. The areas exposed to the weather are severely oxidized.

I am looking at the "Sonus SFX Ultimate Detailing Machine XP by Porter Cable Car Polisher Kit" offered on this site.

The RV is 37 feet long and flat on both sides. This is a big project, but I'll do a bit at a time and get it done.

How would you approach a project like this from beginning to end regarding equipment, supplies and actual project steps? Would this kit be a good way to go, or would I be better off with different specific items/products?

[wicho661]

Welcome.

I called my suppliers about the compound and polish I normally use for cars and they gave me the go ahead to polish up a 25 foot RV with the same characteristics as yours. I used a cyclo random orbital polisher, which has the identical polishing properties as your Porter Cable you are looking at. In my experience with it, you just need to be more careful with the softer gelcoat and not apply pressure. Something else I noticed is that clay wont remove everything. My pads kept turning black and ran through my entire line. Maybe thres a better way, which I'm sure someone can post about.

There are RV products which many manufacturers sell. I was tempted to buy some but I ran out of time to order some before the detail.

Do a search on machine polishing techniques, lake county pads, meguiars and menzerna products, different polishers like the Griots G110V2, the Flex 3401 XC and the actual porter cable 7424XP. Look up some how-to threads on this site, they can be very beneficial.

So use the search function, see if you can find threads with a similar interest to yours and research research research. Once you feel that you are ready, keep asking questions but make sure to practice and have a good understanding of what you are doing exactly before pursuing.

[Greg Nichols]

If the Gel Coat is that bad you can improve it,but it will always need to be re done.

Cheers,
GREG