# How do I restore faded grey skirt on Autotrail



## bazzal

Hi all again,

Please can anyone help.
Has anyone found that the skirt around their m/h has faded into many shades of the colour that it was. I am looking to restore the grey skirt to make the van look cleaner and wondered if anyone has had the same thought and did something about it and if so how did you do it. Would I buy a dye or have it spray painted and also what sort of cost would I expect to pay for the job being done although I would sooner do it myself.

Any help would be most welcome and is appreciated. 

Cheers Baz.............................................. :?


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## VanFlair

Hi Baz

I am thinking that the Autotrail skirt might be gel coated fibreglass, if this is the case it should respond to being polished with a proprietary gel coat restorer then finish with a quality wax.

Martin


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## Gretchibald

If it's made of the same grey plastic as the bumpers on my Arto then a rub with T-Cut and a wax polish did this.


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## dghr272

They are not plastic but are as stated fibre glass with gel coat finish.

Just don't rub too hard, unlike me, see pic.

Terry


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## rosalan

Autoglyn make a paint restorer a bit like "T" cut that should be capable of removing the oxidised surface before using finer abrasives and finally waxing it.
Could I suggest that you ask Autotrail what they recommend before going down the respray route.
In the recent past I have had work like this done for about £200 per bumper at a local body shop.

Alan


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## VanFlair

Hi Terry

That looks like an air bubble underneath the gel coat. Can be fixed with a bit of correct coloured gel into the hole and then stretch some plastic over the top to make it cure without being tacky.

Martin


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## VanFlair

Hi

Gretchibald has certainly made a nice job but this is the correct polish for the job.

http://www.ecfibreglasssupplies.co.uk/p-208-farecla-gel-coat-restorer-wax-500-ml.aspx

Martin


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## 747

It made virtually no difference to the finish on my overcab .... but there again, I just did it by hand while on a ladder.

I suppose a buffer would have made a better job. :?


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## dghr272

Martin,

Exactly what it felt like when I was polishing by hand, when you say cover with plastic, do you mean cling film/food wrap ????

Terry


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## VanFlair

Hi Terry

Something with more body than cling film it needs to take the curve but hold its shape so not to pull into the hole about 0.25mm should do it, if it's nylon ptfe or silicone it will release from the gel coat without wax otherwise it would need a few coats of wax.

A tester first would be a good idea.

Martin


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## VanFlair

747 said:


> It made virtually no difference to the finish on my overcab .... but there again, I just did it by hand while on a ladder.
> 
> I suppose a buffer would have made a better job. :?


Hi 747

It takes a bit of elbow grease.

Martin


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## bazzal

Hi all,

Just to let you know that I bought some Farecla and t-cut and both worked very well and with a good wax and polish up it now looks like new so thanks for all the info.

I now have started to polish the sides of the m/h and have found that it looks patchy even though I have polished all the wax off, so could any one recommend a way of doing it so as to get it looking glossy without the blemishes.

Should I use something to prepare the sides first although I have washed it.

I am using a good grade liquid polish but should I be using something you recommend.

Also what would I use to replace the bead of white sealer that is coming away from the wheel arch trim and the side wall.

Again any info given would be most helpful.

Cheers, Baz.............................................. :?


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## Carl_n_Flo

Baz - are the sides of your AT aluminium or fibreglass?

If aluminium, DONT use ANY colour restoring polish - only a good wax or silicone variant. I am sure the paint on the sides is enamel and doesnt take kindly to being cut....it will go chalky very quickly.

If GF, then the farcella is the way to go, but any imperfections will show up more because of the large expanses.......


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## Noggin365

The skirts on my 09 Chieftain were in a pretty bad way when I bought it 10 weeks ago.

I used Ronseal Thompsons uPVC Restorer (from B&Q) costing about £6.00, it's non abrasive and good for restoring polymer finishes.
Problem is that although it clears all of the 'weathering' off the skirts it leaves a ghost-like finish.

To get rid of that and leave a uniform finish (just about like new) I used Black WOW (expensive, but best price I found was on Amazon at about £17). A pea-sized amount of Black WOW goes a long way - did all of my van including the spare wheel cover on about 1/4 of a bottle of Black WOW.

Black WOW is also great on the textured black areas like bumpers, mirrors, etc.

Black Wow leaves a matt waxy finish so I also bought some Colinite 845 which is a carnauba wax polish and did one area with this to get a shiny gloss finish. Colinite 845 Insulator Wax is used by serious detailers to provide a harder finish that lasts longer.

As others have said there are other ways but this is the way I did mine and I'm v.happy with it.

There are some pictures on my blog under the 7 July posting - I've got rusty nuts and more on it in the 10 July posting - Life is funny.

uPVC Restorer was the key to getting the weathering out but you need a non-abrasive one like Thompsons.


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