Polish

[Lenny HB]

I use Colinite but you do need to polish the van first to remove the road grime, I found out the hard way.
When the van was new I gave it a coat of Colinite then 6 months later I thought I would give it another coat which I did. After polishing up you could feel the road grime under the polish from 5000 miles driving. So I had to polish it then re-wax it.
Now I polish then wax I have found out I only need to polish half way up the side of the van, no grime on the top half.

 

[Burgo]

Nice job but you over polished the trees behind also. Any pics before image manipulation

Ha ha! Absolutely no jiggery pokery involved with the images I promise. I took the before on Monday15th at 1305 looking at the details on my ohone. Mrs B took the after on her phone at 1715 the day after - Tuesday the 16th. We polished it in the morning if 16th. The background iwith the snow is Veleta in Sierra Nevada.

 

[Northernraider]

Is that farecla g3 wax just for the aluminium sections Tam or for the grp bonnet and above windscreen areas too?

I do the whole van with the wax ....buti use different polish for the aluminium and grp areas

I also use the wax on the windows and skylights

 

[Northernraider]

We use Colinite 476 wax - never had to use polish yet on the van but if I did I'd use Meer. These pix are a before and after took earlier this week. It took two of us around 45mins to do the van. I go first applying using a foam pad, and Mrs B follows on behind polishing off using a foam taker offer pad and micro fibre cloth. Depending on how warm the panel is she polishes off quickly or let's it sit a bit longer (you kind of feel how much it drags the pad to know when). Using colinite we only need to do it once a year. View attachment 474996View attachment 474997

I can't say i see a difference lol apart from the angle the photo is taken

 

[rosalan]

I bought a Motorhome that had been treated with Paintseal. This treatment meant a quick wash with water brought it back to gleaming. Quite expensive to have done. How long does it last? Don't know as someone stole it after three weeks but it was ever so shiny when it went.

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[CazPaul]

I do the whole van with the wax ....buti use different polish for the aluminium and grp areas

I also use the wax on the windows and skylights

what polish do you use the grp sections? I find a lot of stuff works on the aluminum sections its the grp thats difficult to get right.

 

[Northernraider]

what polish do you use the grp sections? I find a lot of stuff works on the aluminum sections its the grp thats difficult to get right.

I used the stuff from jezport for the grp. But like many of this age its quite oxidised so keeping a shine on the grp front isnt as easy.

 

[sallylillian]

what polish do you use the grp sections? I find a lot of stuff works on the aluminum sections its the grp thats difficult to get right.

I use Colinite on all the surfaces, including the graphics (not the carbon graphic though that is kiss of death) and it is fine. However I am trying

SONAX Xtreme 02952000 Foil Care and Sealant 500 ml​

On the black gloss foil, the large panels, the thin stripe is 476 for a comparison on life. The Sonax definitely brings out the density of the black although no improvement on the gloss, and its surface scratch covering is not as good at 476.

 

[sallylillian]

Sorry Paul, I reread your post, you ask about polish, I responded about waxing. In my opinion it is the quality of the wax that gives you the finish and one that is durable.
However polishing is something I do not have to do except in small areas because I maintain the surface protection with wax and to be fair I have a hutch so my vans are only ever exposed to elements when we are traveling, so about 6 months per year.
On polish it is about the surface you are treating, there are plenty out there and you can easily find one that will give you a good resultant substrate on which to apply wax. I use 3m Finesse-It it has a light cutting feature which is not too aggressive so can be used on paint, but only in places where I need to remedy a small surface tree scratch for example. However some polishing compounds have aggressive cutting ability and regular use will quickly deplete paint thickness and GRP gel. With these the removal of scratches and marks is easier than with Finesse-It which I will have 2 or 3 goes to bring out a small mark.

 

[Phileas Fogg]

That looks great but I am not surprised your beautiful boat always looked amazing too.

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[Wagoneer]

Regarding Polish - Charlie recommended "Merzerna Superfinish Plus 3800" available on Amazon for about £14 per 250ml bottle.

It's a German product with an abrasion rating of 2/10. Good for removing light surface scratches. I've used it on both aluminium and GRP panels. Finish off with Collinite 476S wax.

 

[Janine]

I used the stuff from jezport for the grp. But like many of this age its quite oxidised so keeping a shine on the grp front isnt as easy.

Complete novice here so please be gentle!

Is this the stuff you bought from jezport? (I know it came from a Funster trader at a show but can’t remember who it was)

I tried it yesterday but, after following the instructions to the letter, it looks worse than before. I assume it is a cutting paste so don’t want to use too much of it in case it damages the gel coat (?) surface.

Autoglym Super Resin Polish is on offer on Amazon so will that make the van shiny again or do I need to do something else first? The surface is very rough to touch.

 

[Lenny HB]

Is this the stuff you bought from @jezport? (I know it came from a Funster trader at a show but can’t remember who it was)

I tried it yesterday but, after following the instructions to the letter, it looks worse than before. I assume it is a cutting paste so don’t want to use too much of it in case it damages the gel coat (?) surface.

Yes it's a cutting paste and if you have left the surface too long it does come up a bit blotchy. best to leave it about 10 days then do it lightly again and then finish of with a suitable polish and finally a wax. When you first cut back the Gel coat the oxidisation will often appear after 10 to 12 days that is the reason for the second application.

I had previously used a 3M one which is a bit courser and did a good job but that is now only available from the states at about 50 quid a bottle. I didn't think Jez's one did such a good job so last week I bought a bottle of Starbright for 20 quid, twice the price of Jez's the result not as good as Jez's. That was a waste of 20 quid.

 

[Northernraider]

Complete novice here so please be gentle!

Is this the stuff you bought from jezport? (I know it came from a Funster trader at a show but can’t remember who it was)

I tried it yesterday but, after following the instructions to the letter, it looks worse than before. I assume it is a cutting paste so don’t want to use too much of it in case it damages the gel coat (?) surface. View attachment 478468
Autoglym Super Resin Polish is on offer on Amazon so will that make the van shiny again or do I need to do something else first? The surface is very rough to touch.
View attachment 478471

Yes thats the stuff ....i found it brought a bit of a shine to my grp areas but nothing like what i get on the rest. But my van is 16 years old and the grp is quite oxidised

 

[Janine]

Yes thats the stuff ....i found it brought a bit of a shine to my grp areas but nothing like what i get on the rest. But my van is 16 years old and the grp is quite oxidised

My van is 15 years old and, since I got it 3 years ago, has only had a mop down with a broom and a bucket of water.

Has any tried clay bars? Are they worth the extra effort to remove the oxidisation?

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[Lenny HB]

Yes thats the stuff ....i found it brought a bit of a shine to my grp areas but nothing like what i get on the rest. But my van is 16 years old and the grp is quite oxidised

Only takes a couple of years for the Gel coat to oxidize.

 

[Northernraider]

My van is 15 years old and, since I got it 3 years ago, has only had a mop down with a broom and a bucket of water.

Has any tried clay bars? Are they worth the extra effort to remove the oxidisation?

Never tried it on grp as you've to be careful with it ...

 

[pagey]

I tried colonite thought it was rubbish.

me too its not good is it

 

[Northernraider]

me too its not good is it

I think its crap to be honest and overpriced.

 

[sallylillian]

me too its not good is it

I think that you should both describe the process you worked to arrive at this statement. I have no axe to grind however with 30 years polishing boats and 11 years with motorhomes I have tried many different polishes and waxes with a range of success. I have been using Colinite 476 exclusively for the last 4-5 years for several reasons. The first was its longevity with it easily giving 6 months service. Secondly its ease of application which also is dust free when polishing off. It has a high wax content and beads well and looks stunning.
Like all treatments much is dependant on the preparation of the base surface and the process employed in application. I can honestly say that a comment of it being "rubbish" is beyond bizarre.

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