Polliwog's First Polish December 07, 2004, 08:08:01 pm Yahoo Message Number: 47448On Monday I got started on Polliwog's first polish. Having dutifully waited at least 30 days to allow the paint to cure (per LD instructions) I purchased a bottle of Finish Prep and Finish First polish on line. I washed and polished the left side and cab areas, leaving the right side, end cap and cabover for the next session.While washing, my heart stopped when I noticed some yellowish streaking stains on the left rear quarter that did not budge with washing. I don't have any clue as to what it was or where it came from, no trees near my storage area, etc. Thank God the stuff came off easily with Finish First. I must say I was skeptical about the instructions to let the applied polish cure for 24 hours before buffing. In any case I can't have my rig in my association overnight so I let it sit for about four hours, careful not to let the Florida sun strike it directly. The polish buffed up easily with very little "dust" and looks gorgeous!!! WOW!!Now for the big questions: how do you guys clean and polish the under over-bed area (above the windshield) and the front of the over- bed area. It seems to me the only way I'm going to get the latter is to lie down on the roof and lean over the front. For the underside, is the only solution some kind of pad at the end of a pole? Finally, do you polish the fake "windows" or just wash them? Will polish harm the material do you think?Thanks, NH Paul
Re: Polliwog's First Polish Reply #1 – December 07, 2004, 09:03:03 pm Yahoo Message Number: 47452Quote"Now for the big questions: how do you guys clean and polish the under over-bed area (above the windshield) and the front of the over-bed area. It seems to me the only way I'm going to get the latter is to lie down on the roof and lean over the front. For the underside, is the only solution some kind of pad at the end of a pole? Finally, do you polish the fake "windows" or just wash them? Will polish harm the material do you think?"Quote Thanks, NH Paul Paul, I use Finish First once a year in the fall and use it on the black fake windows. It works great; the hardest part is getting the bugs off and their residue not to show. I have elected not to polish under the cabover because of the difficulty. I figure it gets little exposure to anything and will probably survive just fine without polish. I actually get pretty far under both sides and the front with one knee on the the hood and a leg on the step ladder.Chris Horst 2002 30' IB Denver
Re: Polliwog's First Polish Reply #2 – December 07, 2004, 10:00:43 pm Yahoo Message Number: 47453I have elected not to Quotepolish under the cabover because of the difficulty. I figure it gets little exposure to anything and will probably survive just fine without polish. I actually get pretty far under both sides and the front with one knee on the the hood and a leg on the step ladder.Chris Horst 2002 30' IB Denver Has anyone painted the underside of the cabover with satin or flat paint to reduce or eleminate the reflections and glare? (Yeah, I know it's not all that bad . . . grin . . . I was just thinking.)bumper
Re: Polliwog's First Polish Reply #3 – December 08, 2004, 12:11:15 am Yahoo Message Number: 47459Quote Has anyone painted the underside of the cabover with satin or flat paint to reduce or eleminate the reflections and glare? (Yeah, I know it's not all that bad . . . grin . . . I was just thinking.)bumper I just keep the sun visors flipped down, all the way forward. They don't block the view but do block the underside reflections. (and it is cheap and easy!)Chris Hunter
Re: Polliwog's First Polish Reply #4 – December 08, 2004, 10:37:07 am Yahoo Message Number: 47466Quote Now for the big questions: how do you guys clean and polish the under over-bed area (above the windshield) and the front of the over- bed area. It seems to me the only way I'm going to get the latter is to lie down on the roof and lean over the front. For the underside, is the only solution some kind of pad at the end of a pole? Finally, do you polish the fake "windows" or just wash them? Will polish harm the material do you think?Thanks, NH Paul Paul: The fake windows are merely paint on fiberglass, so wax will not hurt them, though I agree with the person who said the bugs sometimes make scars.For years the underside of the cabover frustrated me. Yes, I would lie prone on the roof and reach down as far as I could and then as far under as I could from the sides. I finally in desperation built some wooden scaffolding, but after a year it became so loose as to be unsteady and I finally bought commercial scaffolding.The problem you will have is not with the paint on underside of the cabover, but the bugs that accumulate between the windshield and cabover. I found that if my bride and I hoisted a clothesline rope up there, one of us on each side, and saturated the rope with bug remover, by pulling it back and forth between us it did a faily good job.Be aware the wax (or polymer in your case) wears off quickly on the hood and the back - it has a lot to do with the increased speed of the airstream in those areas. I finally gave up on polymer on the hood and use a premium carnauba wax, which lasts me maybe six months (and we have gone 123,000 miles in 6 years and 2 months so six months is a lot of driving). The polymer on the sides lasts almost a year.The blessing of all this work is that after 6 years, except for the slightly visible paint repairs where chips were made, the finish looks as good as it did when I picked it up in 1998.Merry Christmas and have a great 2005Gus Weber
Re: Polliwog's First Polish - Thanks Gus and Chris H. Reply #5 – December 08, 2004, 10:51:19 am Yahoo Message Number: 47468I agree that sun and untraviolet rays are not going to be as much of a problem as bugs above the windshield. Cute trick with the clothesline! The inventive solutions on this forum are amazing.I'm afrid I don't have the energy or compunction to build scaffolding so there you go.NH Paul
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Topic: Polliwog's First Polish (Read 8 times)
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