I could be really cheeky and call this post “Exterior Makeover Kickoff!”, but I’m not feeling that ambitious today.

But it is going to be the first of hopefully many posts about the work I’m going to do this summer to improve Miranda’s exterior appearance. I’ve thought about how to blog about these projects and have decided to do them outside of much, if any, context. I’m just going to present the day’s project, but will not be going into any detail about what it is I’m trying to achieve until I can provide before and after pictures.

One of the most pressing things is to get rid of the gunk left over from the skirting tape.

Front bumper before:

Two hours of work with no. 0 steel wool, WD-40, a scrapper, and Goo Gone (borrowed from Jody so I could see if it works before buying some):

The major thing I want to do this summer is to completely buff Miranda with an oxidation removal compound, then shine up the fiberglass. Much research and many testimonials later, I decided to try Poliglow (Canadian site), a fiberglass restoration system. They had a special this spring with free shipping within the US, so I ordered my kit while I was in Blaine even though I knew I wouldn’t be able to get to the project for several months since I would pay twice as much in Canada (I’m getting smarter!). Along with the basic kit I ordered a bottle of Poli Ox to get rid of the worst stains.

This is what I’m talking about when I say stains:

The powder did not work as I expected it would. I thought I would need to put in a lot of elbow grease. This is what I got by lightly rubbing with a damp paper towel onto which I sprinkled the Poli Ox:

Impressive!!!

Gary has a buffer I can borrow, so now I know that what looked like a super daunting task won’t be that bad!