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...
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...
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