Born Free Coach Fiberglass Body Oxidation/Loss of Shine

[whemme]

While out in a large RV resort in the Phoenix, AZ area this winter, I called one of those mobile RV wash/wax/oxidation removal services to get a quote on doing some of this kind of work on my 8 year old Born Free.

I have been spending anywhere from 1 to 2-1/2 months out here in the Phoenix area every winter in my coach and the effect of the Phoenix sun shows. My attempts to keep the original white gel coat shine by my own hand each year with cleaning the oxidation off and waxing did not seem to work very well.

Well the owner of this particular mobile business proved to have had a lot of experience over many years of working with fiberglass RV bodies and this is what I learned from him.

Once the original fiberglass gel coat surface shine is lost due to oxidation, the original shine can't be recovered even with thorough removal of the oxidation and treatment with wax. Since I had just cleaned and waxed the coach last fall before coming out here in January, he pointed out something to me that should have been obvious. He said, look at the shine of the paint on the fenders, hood, etc of the Ford E450 chassis and then compare that to the shine of the surfaces of your fiberglass body that have been exposed to the sun. Big difference! Also note the good shine still remaining on the fiberglass body work under the overhang area - that area is still good because the sun never directly shines on it.

As further proof of what he is saying may be true, several years ago, my Phillips brand side walk-in door started to take on a very noticeable yellow tint to its original very while color on the surface of the fiberglass panel insert. After being unsuccessful in trying to get a new replacement fiberglass door panel insert, I was advised by Phillips just to have the door panel painted which I finally did have done. Well, I can tell you, my door shines much better than the adjacent fiberglass body work.

Although removing the oxidation and then waxing improves the shine, the original bright shine can not be restored. He says the solution to this problem is to have ordered the coach with overall high quality body paint. Then the coach body work would retain its shine like the Ford chassis body surfaces do. Full body paint is a rather expensive option as I recall but evidently is something to consider to avoid this problem.

Anyone else have an opinion on this matter?

[bcope01]

Living in the sun belt and having my BF stored outside on the side of my home, I concur with everything you and your detail man say.

I wonder if any of our members has had his/her coach fully painted by a third party? Would be interested in what they have to say.

Bill

[whemme]

Sam,

I have also used the Wizard products as orignally recommend by the factory in Humboldt.

What I used were the following:

A) Turbo Cut W1104
B) Finish Cut W11049
C) Shine Master W11033

With a lot of elbow grease, you can remove the oxidation and get a somewhat reasonable shine back, just not near as good as the original deep shine.

This man also told me that for a coach constantly exposed to the sun, his experience was that full detailing and waxing would be required every 3 months to keep the finish in good condition. My coach spends about 8-1/2 months each year in enclosed storage and I have done the detail work myself in the past - I have spent about a week each year doing it. But now 68 years old and walking with replacement metal hip joints on both sides, my days of climbing around my coach are becoming difficult.

I agreed to have this mobile detail business out here in Phoenix do my coach and it is scheduled to be completed on March 24th. I will post how it comes out but they already told me not to expect the original deep shine. The quoted cost estimate for my 26' RSB was $15/ft so I am expecting a $390 bill when completed.

[ewagman]

I wonder if any of our members has had his/her coach fully painted by a third party? Would be interested in what they have to say.

Bill

I did not have my Born Free painted, but I did have my previous class C repainted back in 2002. The paint wore away, likely the black streak remover acid cleanings I did twice a year for ten years contributed greatly to that happening. The private body shops wanted 4 - 5 thousand to repaint it, but the local Maaco shop gave me an cost of about $1500 with some other minor stuff done at the same time. I figured what the heck, it was an 85 and worth maybe $7500 then, so I had Maaco do it. That motorhome has aluminum siding type of exterior, with many horizontal groves, the sanding was quite time consuming, the manager said they grossly underbid the project, but he stood by his quote. I received a good "five foot paint job", that is, you couldn't see the flaws from five feet or more away. They did get the colors wrong too, the bottom was to be 01 Ford copper, they accidentally got another 01 Ford red color with almost the same color code, oh well. It still looked quite good last year when I sold it, I kept it under a cover once I painted it. The picture with the new paint was actually taken three & a half years after the repaint job.

The smooth exterior of a Born Free should be easier, I'd use a good marine paint like Imron or Awlgrip. Fortunately my 03 is still good & shiny, I feel my cover is a help, although there are others who feel covers are not a good idea. I bet the repaint cost would be well over the five thousand I was quoted back in 2002, but it sure made the motorhome look much better.

[bcope01]

Ed, your old coach did look much better with the new paint job. Thanks for posting your experience w/photos. I wonder if there would be a big difference in how the new paint holds up between a metal surface and one that is fiberglass.

Bill

PS. I like the way they painted your old coach to make it look like it had an awning.

[dmews001]

I can offer a picture of our 2007 BF26RSB in full body paint. I believe it has a manufacturing date of Nov. 2006 - so close to 3 1/2 years old now.

One of the reasons we went "painted" was the looks of course, but also the prospect of long-term beauty and shine (of our coach just to be clear).

So far it's as shiny as ever with nothing else but washing on a regular basis. Hope it stays that way.

The picture - taken last summer - shows our BF in front of Mt. Hood, OR. This was at the tail-end of a +3000 miles trip, where the coach hasn't seen a good bath for a couple of weeks.

--Detlef

[whemme]

Detlef & Ursula,

If I may be so bold as to ask, what was the cost of the full body paint option on your 2006 26' RSB coach?

Your paint job really does look beautiful. Do you know if the factory did the paint job in house or was it done by an outside vendor selected by the factory?

[John S.]

Yes, I do have a full body paint on my 24 RB. I love it and it is very easy to care for. I will say that I had a 22 footer built for two first that was not painted prior to my current coach. I also have owned 2 foretravels that were not painted either and one that is. My experience is that the painted coach is much easier to care for and a nice waxing will bring the shine back. You can buy a polymer wax and cleaner for boats that brings the shine back to fiberglass coaches. I know this from a Foretravel owner who spent the winter doing his coach. It looked like new and it was a 94. So you can do it but the man hours are incredible. I would not buy another coach without the paint. I do wish that Bornfree did a better job painting. They do not remove any of the hardware but just paint it after it is assembled. SO as you open a compartment with the key if that little black round key hole turns a bit, then you will see white fiberglass under it. They need to change their order and paint the body pieces prior to installation or window and hardware insertion. Other than that I have no complaints with the full body paint. It has held up to much use and to touch conditions. I run my bornfree all winter and all sumer (well the 48 inches of snow kept it in the garage for close to 2 weeks) and just wash it in the spring once in the summer and once in the fall. I use two coats of wax, once spring and once fall and it takes a weekend to wax it. I will say that the Foretravel takes a week to wax. The wax for fiberglass is aquatech and you order it online from a place in carolina. You need a cleaner first then the wax and you will have to buff it but it does bring back the shine and make the coach look new.


As to places to paint a coach, I would recommend Xtreme Graphics in Nacogdoches Texas. They are the only Prevost approved paint facility in the middle of the country and they do a great job. They will remove the windows and doors and do a great job painting it and then cook it in a heat booth. I have seen some wonderful paint jobs come out of there.


Here is the link for the wax produck companies. If you do not have full body paint I would try this first.

http://www.aquatech-marine.com/

the link to Xtreme graphics is http://xtremegraphics.net/

Hope it helps.

[ewagman]

Detlef, is the white area painted or is it the gelcoat that would have been masked off and not painted. Looks great, BTW.

Bill, it's as good as done! You might as well get ready to select your colors, I predict your BF will be painted soon. I will be curious to read the story and see the pictures, you always present an excellent documentation of your work.
I'd be inclined to check out places that paint boats, they would have more experience working with gelcoated fiberglass surfaces than your typical auto - truck body shop, unless Born Free would prepare and paint an older motorhome.

[ddpjep]

An SOB friend of mine (Some Other Brand) had his fiberglass coach painted at Mike's Custom Painting in Bremen, Indiana. He did a lot of research before going with Mike, and he feels he got better service and a savings of several thousand dollars.

Mike's web site is: http://www.mikescustompaintinginc.com/index.html

If you check out the web site, you will see that after several coats of paint Mike applies double clear coats to better resist UV radiation.

Dean

[Roadtech]

There is an interesting thread over on the RV.net Class C forum on "Paint versus Wraps". Several pictures are shown of rv's with these wraps instead of paint. I don't know anything about wraps, but they might be worth checking out as an alternative to paint.

[John S.]

I saw a coach that had the wrap removed. It needed to be painted and they willnot last forever either. I think that they should paint all the coaches as they survive the elements much better.

[whemme]

I read thru all the posts on the 'paint vs wrap' topic on the RV.net forum but could not firgure out exactly what a wrap is. Can someone explain that method of exterior treatment to me?

[Roadtech]

Bill: A wrap is a vinyl material that has colors and graphics printed on it somehow. The vinyl film is then applied to the body (not sure how). It covers the entire outside of the body. You may have seen commercial vans running around covered up in company logos and graphics and wild designs and colors. The wraps are cheaper than painting the designs on the exterior.

[John S.]

It adheres to the gelcoat and the pattern is on the wrap. it will not last for ever and you will and can scratch it and have issues with it. Now it is ok for a company that will change it out every so often to update their image and product but for a motorhome I fear it is not a great thing. I have seen them on commercial busses as well and they cover the windows too.