Unloved camper shell extreme makeover

[geoff]

A long time ago, I posted questions about how to improve my camper shell. The camper shell is vintage 1994, and it lives outside about 3/4 mile from the ocean. Harsh environment Here's what it looked like to start:



Here's what I did and the incredible results (timeframe mid-December 2004):

I started with my new Meguiar's G-100 (Porter Cable) DA-orbital polisher. I bought a cheap wool pad that fit over the foam polishing pad, and used it to apply Meguiars #40 fiberglass oxidation remover. The small section I tried showed noticeable improvement, but at the rate it was taking, it would probably be several months to remove all the surface oxidation. Fortunately, my house painter had a Makita rotary buffer with a wool pad that he would loan me. A few hours with the rotary, wool pad and #40, and there was significant improvement.

I wiped everything down, hit a few spots again, and admired my work. Just for grins, I tried some clay, not expecting any surface contaminants to be left after the rotary, and was surprised how much "dirt" the clay pulled up. After claying for an hour, not much more improvement, so I moved on to the next step.

Next, I used Meguiars #45 boat polish with my PC polisher and a Meguiars polishing pad. About 2 hours later, I had gone over the entire camper shell, and it had a nice shine to it. It wasn't anywhere close to new condition, but it was smooth to the touch and didn't look or feel like gray chalk any more. I finished up with NXT Tech Wax, which I figured was the best product for protection where I live.

Compared to the before picture, the after picture is amazing:



... and here are the Meguiars products I used:



At Christmas, my mother-in-law, who hates my truck, commented on how much better it looks with a new camper shell. I took great delight in telling her it was the same old one, only cleaned up

I was happy with my results for a while, but then I started wanting more...

[geoff]

I kept thinking I could make the camper shell look even better. I used the Porter Cable polisher for the Meguiar's #45 boat polish. I wondered if a rotary polisher and the #45 would be better. Unfortunately, the Makita polisher I borrowed didn't have a wrench to remove the wool pad, and I couldn't see spending $200 to buy my own Makita rotary.

I broke down the other week (early March 2005) and bought one of the Harbor Freight rotary polishers:



The store had it for $50, but the web site said $25, and the store would match the price if I printed out the web page. As luck would have it, the store had 10% off coupons, and I got a rotary polisher for $22.50, plus $9 for the 2 year extended warranty. Even at the full $50, this machine is a good buy. But I digress.

I washed the camper shell, and using the same Meguiars polishing pad, but this time on the rotary, worked with the #45 fiberglass boat polish. This time, the results were noticeably better than the first time, even though my truck has been sitting outside in record Southern California rain. It still took about 3 hours with the rotary and Meguiars #45 until I stopped seeing any improvement.

Someone had given me some 3M machine glaze, so I tried that with the rotary as well (since I didn't have any Meguiars glaze, and I couldn't find any comparable product specifically for fiberglass boats). This slightly improved the finish even more. I finished up with another coat of NXT Tech Wax, applied with the Meguiars G-100 DA polisher, waited, and buffed. The results showed quite an improvement over my first extreme makeover, but not the same level of improvement starting from the original. Here are the results:



and here are the Meguiars products I used the second time around:



Note how much more rich and reflective the camper shell surface is now

I think I've done as much as I can with the camper shell, and I'm not embarassed to be seen in it. I've started to play a little using the rotary on the paint, and results so far have been amazing. Once I get something worked out that improves the paint, I'll post pictures and approach ...

[SingingSabre]

*applauds*

Very nice work!

[RCBuddha]

Awesome Job! That rotary looks like it did the trick!

Question about the chicago rotary: Does it come with a backing plate, or just the wool pad?

[benhui86]

i wouldve thought the camper shell was suppose to be white if i only saw the be4 picture! looks like ur truck needs a new paint job.... that roof is just an eye sore... hahaha.. great job on the camper shell

[scrub]

First after


Second after


Getting better. In the second pic the most of the bottles reflection can be seen, whereas the first the bottle top fades out (at least the NXT) Also the labels on the second after are a bit clearer too.

The differences could also be the placement of the bottles on a different section of the shell. At any rate as you said it's restored to the best possible condition. Great job!

Plus you got some time behind the rotary with little fear of failure. That's what I need to do soon.

[Don]

Originally posted by RCBuddha

Awesome Job! That rotary looks like it did the trick!

Question about the chicago rotary: Does it come with a backing plate, or just the wool pad?

I ordered the same one and it came with a real lambswool bonnet (tie on) and an 8" velcro backing pad.



geoff I have a question...did the hand guard seem to get in the way? I was wondering if I was going to have to cut it off.

PS: The weather STILL hasn't cooperated, and I STILL haven't gotten a chance to try mine out.

[RCBuddha]

Originally posted by Don
I ordered the same one and it came with a real lambswool bonnet (tie on) and an 8" velcro backing pad.

cool, thanks, I'll look into it when i pick mine up today.

[OrangeRcode]

I have the Harbor Freight rotary as well but I think it only came with the wool pad, not the backing plate. I wonder if the arbor is the same size as the DAP? I have not been brave enough to try my hand at the rotary. I am going to tackle my dad's old neglected Ford pickup this weekend and may want to give it a try if the DAP can't do the job.

[Mike Phillips]

Great restoration write-up geoff. This is a perfect example of what we mean when we talk about taking something, in this case a camper shell, to its Maximum Potential. The idea being that not everything we own will ever be like it was when it was brand new, but with a little passion and the human element of care, along with the right products, product that are formulated to be beneficial to the surface to which they are applied, we can restore what has been lost to as close as possible, it's former self, and in many such instances, this is more than enough to satisfy our expectations.

I recently met a gentleman in a grocery store parking lot with a white 1967 Mustang Fastback, it was an original car still in okay shape in that it was intact, running and complete. I looked the car over really well, inside and out while waiting for the owner to come out of the store and then talked to him about his car. I could tell he loved his car and has dreams of restoring it some day. I discussed his car's finish with him pointing out to him that while it had oxidized and had gross black staining in the paint that could easily and safely be removed with a Meguiar's paint cleaner. I told him that I would be willing to help him restore a show car shine to his finish if I could use the before and after photos for our website and he said he would consider it but went on to say that what he really wanted to do was to get it painted.

I have met hundreds of people like this and the day they get it painted is years and years down the road, until that day, with a little passion and the right products, they could restore their car's finish to its maximum potential and drive around a beautiful white 1967 Mustang Fastback, instead of one that looks old and deteriorated... Sure a new paint job would be awesome, so would a ground-off restoration, and maybe someday he'll get there, but for a few dollars and a few hours, we could have taken that old single stage finish and restored it to it's maximum potential and I can assure you, that car would have sparkled! But I digress...

Great work geoff !