Upcoming Detail EM-50 Urban Assault Vehicle

tuscarora dave

tuscarora dave

"Luck" Residue of design
Well...It's not actually the EM-50 Urban Assault Vehicle from the movie "Stripes" but it is a 1976ish GMC Eleganza 2. The only motorhome (that I am aware of) that was ever made by a major auto manufacturer. It features the same composite body material as used on the Corvettes of it's day. These were outfitted with the 455C.I.D. Olds Toronado engine and transaxle making it a 6 wheeled front wheel drive motorhome. While it's not the EM-50 Urban Assault Vehicle some of us old timers know from the movie "Stripes", it does however look like it has battled many wars. The customer is having the stripes removed from the vehicle before bringing it to my shop to have the paint made as perfect as possible and a generous coating of Opti-Coat 2.0 applied to it.



I did stop down at the marina where it's stored at and had a close look at it for estimating purposes but didn't get any actual photos of it yet so below is a stock photo from google images so the youngsters of the detailing community can see what it looks like.



GMCEleganza2.jpg




This should be fun bringing an important part of Detroit/RVing history back closer to it's original condition. While I didn't take any actual photos of it yet, I will be taking many before and after photos and will be posting the process/products used to restore the paint on this beauty.
 
I want fullt documentation of sun shots of the roof, and very clear before and afters of that interior! lmao Dave your more of a man then me. Have fun. Best of luck and if you get buried deep, im a phone call away. lol
 
Ooooo this should be interesting, I really can't wait to see this! So what was your initial impression on the 36ish y/o paint?



Ohh and for those who don't know Stripes........now who's never seen Stripes??? It's a CLASSIC!



Here's the EM-50 Urban Assault Vehicle



stripes664a.jpg




09041608gmcem50urbanass.jpg
 
Actually the paint really isn't in too bad of shape and with exception to one small chip it's all still there. A bit oxidized but nothing too awful. I'll be doing a test section with foam pads on my Makita but think that wool might be needed first. I'll post up a few photos after the test section is completed.



@Barry The luggage compartments will be removed from the roof and the entire roof and all will be compounded and polished including all the bright work. I'll get a few sun shots while I'm up there. That is if the customer is still standing when I give him the estimate. You know how that goes, we all have great intentions until we're reminded that those intentions cost big money sometimes.
 
Ah yes, the glory days of GM Truck & Bus.... sounds like a fun one!



Of course, gotta have shag carpet to complete the 70s experience:



5Kb5He5M93nc3L23Hcc5lfaa3b11d8a8616ca.jpg
 
Take it for a spin...

C'mon, it's Czechoslovakia. We zip in, we pick 'em up, we zip right out again. We're not going to Moscow. It's Czechoslovakia. It's like going into Wisconsin.
 
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