Date:         Sat, 22 Aug 1998 18:58:29 -0400
Reply-To:     Martin Jagersand <jag@CS.YALE.EDU>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <Vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Martin Jagersand <jag@CS.YALE.EDU>
Subject:      Re: camper top restoring to shiny new ...
Comments: To: vanagon@vanagon.com, JWALKER@UA1VM.UA.EDU

> i was watching the SpeedVision channel and they had some boat stuff on
> there, and lo and behold, they were talking about restoring fibreglas
> boat hulls to like-new appearance. they used 3M Fibreglas Restorer & Wax
> and gave this number for more info:  1-877-3M-MARINE
>
> that's all i know. anybody ever try this stuff??

I've washed and waxed boats more than I want to remember. The marine stores
have some pretty potent stuff for washing, but I think that the
basic idea is the same as for auto washing, polishing and waxing.

ie:
1. Wash off all dirt, bleach what isn't washable.
2. Polish to remove oxidized gelcoat, and expose a new shiny layer.
3. Wax to protect this new layer.

I've seen 30 year old fibreglass boats that look like new. These
have just been washed and  waxed and taken care of. If there is a lapse
in care, the shine can be brought back somewhat with polish, but
I've found that the polishing has to be redone every season.

The difference between the Westy pop top and a boat hull is that
the boat hull is mirror smooth, but the pop top is not. This makes
it even more important to keep dirt off. Once dirt has discolored
the pop top it's incredibly hard to get off. The best washing
detergents have oxalic acid in them (gloves recommended), which
helps a little by bleaching whatever can't be washed out.

/Martin
--
Martin Jagersand                 email: jag@cs.yale.edu
Computer Science Department             jag@cs.rochester.edu
Yale University

        Slow down and visit the VW diesel Westy page:
          WWW: http://www.cs.rochester.edu/u/jag/vw
-------------------------------------------------------------------