Cleaning the Westfalia pop-top |
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G. Matthew Bulley writes:
When we bought our Westy, The previous owner had never cleaned the top. It was pretty nasty. It now looks and shines like new. Here is what we did/used, with caveats.
There is a product available at Kmart, Auto Zone, etc. called Purple Power. It is biodegradable, but incredibly strong. It is like 409 on steroids. We sprayed this all over the top. It completely dissolved everything that wasn't part of the top. We pressure washed the remainder away. Beware though: Any drips onto surrounding paint will remove oxidation... which initially sounds good, but it you don't remove oxidation uniformly, it leaves streaks. So take precautions, or be prepared to polish/wax your van PDQ.
Next I used Maguires system... Step One is a chemical cleaner, Step Two is a semi-abrasive polish to remove blemishes, and Step Three is a sealant/wax. It works; the top litterally shines like new. Cost: about $40 for the cleaners, time at the carwash/pressure washer, and polish. Effort: one day.
You'll be glad you did.
Karl Bloss writes:
I used a dull paint scraper to get some of the crud off the poptop I got from the junkyard. Beyond that, use a scrub brush and elbow grease.
After the mechanical process, I used regular dish detergent to clean the nasty weathered stuff. Then I used a fiberglass cleaner from Collonite commonly found in marine supply places. Finally a coat of Collonite wax made it shine like (almost) new.
