Sorry should read, 15mph all the way to Chesterfield brand new van, first time out
Gloss black front on it as well.
Should have seen the que behind me tho
Should ban them chippings council
Anyway, checked front of van at Chatsworth, only a couple of minor marks on gas locker door, thank

That's exactly what happened to mine on our first trip to France just after we bought it, the front got covered in black tar spots so I stopped immediately and got out the tar remover I luckily carry in the 'van! Spent about 30 minutes getting it cleaned off, then when we got back I bought a Specialised Covers padded front tow cover, expensive but so much better than the cheaper non padded type, a doddle to put on every time we tow!

Cheers pj
Cover on order

You're welcome mate, did you go for the dearest one, padded?

Went for Tow pro +. One down from most expensive

I have the tow pro +, excellent piece of kit just don't get it near any heat.

Ian

Better slow down when towing then

We decided to get the TowPro Elite as we'd had a thinner cover on our Swift and it didn't protect the front as much as we wanted, decided the extra for the padded version was a sound investment considering the cost of the 'van! Really is an excellent piece of kit, especially as you can unzip the top or bottom half without taking the whole cover off which is great when on a longer trip with stopovers

As well as acquiring the FFRR, we also bought a 'new to us' tintent - a Sterling Europa 500L. Turned out to be an expensive week

Just got back from 3 nights shakedown to test the new 'van, over the border in Cornwall. Both car and tintent performed well, despite some challenging weather , now looking to go further afield in the coming months.

Sorry to hijack this thread chaps, but bear with me.
My daughter has just bought a 32 yr old Castleton van, it's main bodywork is grp plastic, but a previous owner has painted over it.
The paint is begining to flake, any suggestions on how to remove it?
It's a lovely old van, nice and tidy, just needs some tlc.

If it's GRP underneath, presumably the GRP has a gel coat on it. I would be tempted to try (on an inconspicuous part) a bit of paint stripper. The more gentle strippers won't normally eat into the gel coat. Look for the strippers which don't require a nuclear survival suit to use them, the more organic ones. Depending on the paint used you might find mineral brake fluid would work.

Failing that, some 600 wet & dry to get rid of the paint which will leave a cloudy finish on the gel. Then a machine polisher to get the shine back on the gel coat.

Don't use a heat gun as this will wreck the gel coat.

Neither will be a 5 minute job but it can be done very well if you have patience. I did the wet & dry thing on a mate's Porsche 944 which had a lousy paint job. We rubbed it off with 600, flatted with 2000 grade and machine polished the original paint underneath. Looked lovely, not perfect but definitely in line with a well cared for 30 year old car.

Might be talking a load of cobblers here, but what about a wallpaper steam stripper?
I've just used one to take all old wallpaper off at home and it also took off the paint which had originally been under the wallpaper.

cheers

I would be tempted to try heating the paint with an hair dryer and peeling off ,if you keep the heat moving it may come off in strips, with a bit of luck. HTH

Just collected me daughter's tent, and I think we're gonna repaint it ourselves.
The front, top and sides are grp , the sides aluminium.
Keep hearing good reports about rust oleum paint products, anyone used them ?