Pop-top gel coat maintenance
- Thread starter hunta
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- fibreglass pop top
I’ve sent a note to Westdubs for their advice as they have been super helpful in the past might have a go-to recommendation.
My worry is I’ll get a DA polisher for the poptop fix and once I’ve got one of those I’ll be tempted to play with general paint detailing which could be a road to disaster!!
Cleaned the poptop today then used the oxidation remover, polish and wax, now looks much better. Also cleaned the rest of the van polished and waxed that and put some sealant on the wheels. No DA, all done by hand and now if feels like my arms are going to fall off. Unfortunately, after spending all day on it and starting in the sunshine, it started raining as I was doing the last wheel so no photos of it looking smart.
The oxidation remover did the job and certainly removed a lot of the white marks but it stated to look much better after the polish. Hopefully with the wax on it will last out the winter then I’ll have another go in the spring and maybe look at other products in the range to help keep it conditioned
The oxidation remover did the job and certainly removed a lot of the white marks but it stated to look much better after the polish. Hopefully with the wax on it will last out the winter then I’ll have another go in the spring and maybe look at other products in the range to help keep it conditioned
I have the Meguiars kit and a DA polisher now ready to go. Just waiting for a decent weekend of dry, cool weather no so I can get on with it.
Did you get the full Monty or just the oxidation remover? I’d be interested in how good the other products are. I just used my autoglym polish and ceramic spray after
Did they get back to you with any recommendations?
Sorry - not been here for a while. So due to back issues and not having “the right weather” I only got to use it all last weekend. First time polishing and first time with a polisher so not much experience to measure against. But I’ve got to say all round - a really good correction. The oxidation remover helped take out all the white flat spots. To be fair, on reflection I should have spent longer on that stage but was worried about over working it. The further two stages helped to feed the fiberglass and left with a really good finish. I used the DA and different strength pads with each stage. I’ll try and take an after shot to compare with the starting photos but I now have a black roof again. I’m pleased I’ve reversed the damage and would feel more confident doing it next time.
The problem I can see is I’ll now want to dabble with detailing the main paintwork!
One thing - from my over zealous use of the very liquid oxidation remover - the rest of the van is covered in splatter from it! So that’s another wash required.
The summer is hardest on the pop top here as mine's gloss black and gets too hot to touch.
This time of year it would probably be ok to polish only every other month but definitely needs cutting back and a waxing each month during the summer as it goes dead looking so quickly.
This time of year it would probably be ok to polish only every other month but definitely needs cutting back and a waxing each month during the summer as it goes dead looking so quickly.
I’ve used rinse off wax on it during every wash since new (3 years) only really had this issue this year when using autoglym rapid ceramic spray. I thought the standing water, frost etc would be an issue though
What’s the issue with this product? I’ve been using it for a year now including on my Reimo roof.
Dunno, but it was ok before when I used other rinse off waxes. Possibly just coincidence and years of lack of proper maintenance is the cause which just happened to come to a head when using this product. Generally though I learnt quickly to use it sparingly on the rest of the van otherwise I found it left residue marks after the first shower. Like most of these products it does say to use sparingly on the bottle but it must be very concentrated as it really doesn’t need much! And because of this I may have skipped using it on the roof (not sure about that though)
I've been using Harley carnauba paste wax on my roof and this shines like an hearse at this time of the year but smells like a cake being cooked in a fibreglass oven during the summer.
Going in a slightly different direction but given that the two solar panels so far installed cover about 2/3 of the poptop maybe I should just add another panel as the sides of the poptop have remained glossy from new with just the flat top taking the pounding.
Going in a slightly different direction but given that the two solar panels so far installed cover about 2/3 of the poptop maybe I should just add another panel as the sides of the poptop have remained glossy from new with just the flat top taking the pounding.
Reapplied the oxidation remover yesterday as the roof was looking bad again (worse if anything than before), I have now bought the polish (supposed to feed oils etc into gel coat) and the wax from Meguiar marine range to try the full system to see if I can get it back into a more even keel (note the nautical link 
).
I need to do the canvas now too, jobs are stacking up on the poptop!
).I need to do the canvas now too, jobs are stacking up on the poptop!
Tempted to get the roof painted or wrapped silver to match the van?
I've cut mine back and polished again with carnauba wax but realistically at some point the gel coat will go threadbare and chopped mat strands will start to show.
Our camper is chestnut brown but I did respray the tailgate spoiler a dark solid brown Vauxhall colour after the first gloss black paint crazed, might arm myself with multiple aerosol cans of that with plastic primer underneath again as the dark brown is looking good still a year later ie. no crazing and there's not a lot of the roof not covered by solar panels.
I've cut mine back and polished again with carnauba wax but realistically at some point the gel coat will go threadbare and chopped mat strands will start to show.
Our camper is chestnut brown but I did respray the tailgate spoiler a dark solid brown Vauxhall colour after the first gloss black paint crazed, might arm myself with multiple aerosol cans of that with plastic primer underneath again as the dark brown is looking good still a year later ie. no crazing and there's not a lot of the roof not covered by solar panels.
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