We bought our 96 U320 last June from a family friend who had been sick & passed away. It had been sitting for 3 years and in pretty sad shape, Stripes flaking off,dull & oxidized, Awning material rotted & tires cracked & the regular stuff that happens to a 16 year old coach. We owned a 1980 Prevost with a Detroit 2 stroke diesel engine, so we were going to clean up the Foretravel and sell it. Put new starter batteries in and kicked the tires and drove it home 300 miles. It drove good and ran great, and has a lot of options the Prevost didn't have . So we sold the Prevost and kept the Foretravel, and the clean up begans. A razor knife a heat gun & a buffer & about 80 hours of Hell ! took care of the Gel- Coat. Ordered new material from Zip-Dee new tires,and yesterday I buffed the wheels, done for now. So far were enjoying being a part of the Foretravel Family, the coach seems to be built well and they seemed to use good material in the construction. When I buffed it the Gel- Coat came back to life. I noticed here in Calif don't see many Foretravels here, so it's kinda special. Art & Teri
Wow, that looks incredible. Well done and welcome to the family. You are not the first person to come here from a bus.
Very impressive job of buffing. And it demonstrates that Foretravel quality lies just below the surface.
Art
What did you use with the buffer to bring out the luster and remove the shadows from the decals?
Your coach sparkles like a mirror
You are not alone, having came from a MCI to Foretravel, I have a hunch where you are coming from and I am laughing with you.
Enjoy
Virginia & Jim: Thanks for the complement , it's always nice to hear after the job is done. After I removed the stripes it was shinny and teal in color underneath . I used a 3M cutting compound and buffed the hole thing, so it was shinny all over. You can see in some light where the stripes were, but it seems to be getting better as the sun hits it .
Thanks Art & Teri Templeton Calif.
Very nice job Art! I can appreciate how much work that was. If your interested, I can post what I did to replace my worn out aluminum bay door hinges with polished stainless ones. It looks like your going for the "glossy white gelcoat and polished metal" look. That would be fitting for a former Prevost owner.
Thanks Art - I'm reading up on 3M compounds now -
I'm not wanting to remove all decals as only the row of 3 pin strips along the bay doors are peeling, but do want to give our gal a good finish restoration before the summer hits here in Texas
John now not only Prevoster's would be interested in your chrome bay door handles - Where did ya get um and how did ya do it????
:o
You inspire me to attack our 96 this summer after 5 years of northern New Mexico sun and neglect have the decals (una)peeling and the gelcoat dull. And we will have to rename our coach. Let's see ... Moby dick, or The Cloud, something that highlights the whiteness. Andy1
Speaking of which, you did not mention how the bottom of the bay doors became white;
how'd you do it?
Trent
Those are decals too. There just extra thick with a texture on them.
While those were already removed on my coach, I did remove the main 8" thick side strip using this stuff: Vinyl-Off by CrystalTek Green products that work (http://www.crystaltek.us.com/crystaltek-vinyl-off.htm) I wouldn't say it made it easy but it did make it easier. Heating it up after spraying on seemed to be the trick to allow it to penetrate through the vinyl and get to the adhesive below. Then after letting it cool a bit (hot gelcoat will gouge easily) a thin putty knife (with slightly rounded corners) will scrap the vinyl off. Sometimes takes multiple applications of Vinyl-Off. I'm curious how Art did it?
Well I tried the eraser wheel buy Astro, it worked good on small stripes and hard to get to areas. Most every thing else I used a handle that you put a 1 sided razor blade in and a good heat gun. It took some getting use to,I got a few small gouges at first till I got use to it. I found when I put a new blade in I rounded the corners with a piece of sand paper an kept it as low as I could. Play with the heat not to hot or not to cold. Once you get the hang of it it goes pretty fast. If the adhesive comes off with the vinyl it makes it much easier, If not lacquer thinner takes off the adhesive. The few small gouges I got, when I buffed they are harder to see , it smoothed the edges down . The Astro eraser wheel goes on a drill and takes off every thing, they are cheap about 6 bucks I used 2 of them, I was told the Astro is better then the 3M earser wheel.
Art
Is 3m cutting compound the full name of what you used to buff and brighten the gel?
Art, the coach looks great! I've been thinking of doing the same thing to ours. After seeing the results of your labor I'm gonna get started. One question, is the cutting compound you used also the buffing agent? Where did you obtain it? Thanks in advance
Richard
Art,
The coach looks great!! :D I'm debating removing all my decals or at least the horizontal ones and just leave the ribbons to see if that would update the coach a little. My issue is how dirty does the bottom of the coach look after driving around awhile? I really do not wash the coach at every stop.
Thanks,
Here is a picture of the 2 of the 3m products that I used, 1st one was the one that did 90 percent of the job 05972 rubbing compound, that cleaned, shined most every thing , with a wool cutting pad. Haven't finished 2 ND step yet the 05995 gets rid of the swirl marks, The white doesn't show much anyway, And a coat of wax. The part about getting dirty at the bottom, It's easier because it is so slick the dirt doesn't seen to stick as bad, The wall paper! I called it at the bottom was so rough & flaky every stuck, always looked dirty. Have fun Art from Templeton Calif Where it is sunny & beautiful today See Ya !
Thanks Bud.