Clear Coat/Gel Coat

[cgmartin]

I have a 2008 Fleetwood Tioga Class C.  I was about to wax it with a gel coat liquid spray wax I bought from CW, and I wanted to use a circular buffer, but then read another post that one should not use a buffer to buff out a clear coat finish.  My motorhome is painted. How do I know if it has a clear coat?  Do all painted motorhomes have a clear coat?  Are clear coat and gel coat the same thing?  Lots of questions.....my apologies....thx.

 

[Mikeh449]

no they are not clear coat is the last coat of paint on car or truck gel coat is put on fiberglass mold for release agent sealer for fiberglass

 

[Rodney Davidson]

I would probably guess you have a clear coat finish. If you have painted graphics stripes you probably have clear coat. You can feel the edge of the painted stripes and if it feels fairly smooth you probably have clear coat. If your coach is white in nature and you have vinyl decals you may very well may have a gel coat finish or a single stage urethane finish. Gel coat is a fiberglass product and a clear coat is a urethane product. Both are similar in waxing and care. The only time you should ever buff with a circular buffer is if you have scratches or defects you want to remove. A buffer creates a tremendous amount of heat and with the combination of rubbing compound you are removing healthy material. If you have heavy oxidation a fine compound and a circular buffer might be the ticket. Today we buff with a variable speed buffer at a slow speed using clear coat safe compounds very fine. If you have light oxidation I would recommend a orbital buffer. Take a butter knife flip the buffer pad upright and spread a cocktail of paste wax with a little of liquid wax to help add moisture and splash a little of chrome polish to add a little of a abrasive to help remove the oxidation, work it in and let this formula set and haze and bust off with large soft towels. If your finish is shiny and fairly slick do nothing but clean and wax. A paste wax will be the better wax but will be harder to work with, a quality liquid wax will be the next and is easier to work with, a spray wax is the fast and easier of all. Try to use a wash n wax when you can, it will help keep the oxidation down. If you use automatic washes try to wax more often and use the hot wax feature. Good luck..

 

[cgmartin]

Hello Mr. Davidson, thanks for you input.  You are the person I was hoping to get a response from, since you have decades of actual experience owning a paint shop. The decals on my motor home are not painted on. They are just vinyl decals, which have faded more than the surrounding surfaces.  All fiber glass surfaces are either painted or have a decal, and do not have oxidation.  The bottom 1/3 of the motorhome is painted a light green. This area also has some discoloration, but not as bad as the decals.  The section above the decals is painted white. This area is in great shape. It shines really well and there is virtually nothing I need to do to that area. It outshines the green section quite a bit.  I had been using McGuire's spray on wax on my car and motorcycle with great success, but since the motorhome is mostly painted fiberglass, I thought I should do something different.  My dilemma was trying to determine if a clear coat was applied over the paint. How can I tell?  I cannot be certain, but I tend to believe there is no clear coat because the painted surfaces do not seem like they have an extra glossy coating.  I went out and bought McGuire's Golden Wax Paste, and will apply and buff it out by hand, but I though I might also use the circular buffer at the slowest speed it will go in order to get the best shine. 

 

[Rodney Davidson]

On your green shade you can take a small piece of 600 or finer grit lightly sand a area and if you get green on your sandpaper it will be a single stage finish, if it has a white residue on your paper it may very well be a clear coat. You can take a little rubbing compound and rub hard to get the same results you will have some color on your towel if its single stage. If you already have a variable speed buffer that's great, just go slow and be careful, I have seen so many people take a buffer and destroy a good paint job. Go ahead and take your buffer and really work in you wax at a slow speed, you don't have to be turtle slow just be steady and use large soft towels. On your vinyl decals you may need to do a extra application with paste wax. Vinyl just can't handle UV like your paint can. Its hard work, good luck....