Why the dealer or manufacture don't do this?

[Deerhunter1]

Good Day all-

I have notice on AS that have been restore in many pictures and post. You buy a new AS and they don't have the shine like mirror when someone restore their AS? For the money that we are willing to pay in my opinion, and is only my opinion I think it would be nice to have it looking like that when you get it from the dealer. Does anyone agree with me?

Thank you in advance >>>

Kennedy

[HowieE]

The trailers you see that shine like a mirror were made with a much higher alloy of aluminum and can be polished. The material they now use can be polished to a lesser degree with the risk of polishing through the outer layer and into a material that can not support the shine you are looking for.

[idroba]

The polish jobs require constant work to keep them looking good and most owners are not either willing or able to spend the time and/or money to make them shine like that. I know that even if a mirror shine job were available from the factory, I would not want it, knowing the work needed to keep it up. I want to camp in it, not polish it.

[J. Morgan]

Originally Posted by HowieE

The trailers you see that shine like a mirror were made with a much higher alloy of aluminum and can be polished. The material they now use can be polished to a lesser degree with the risk of polishing through the outer layer and into a material that can not support the shine you are looking for.

That and a polished trailer is a lot of maintenance.

That mirror shine only lasts so long til it needs polishing again.

Ask me how I know.....

[overlander63]

Airstreams have never, ever been highly polished from the factory.
If you want a shiny Airstream, you will need to polish it yourself, or pay someone $$$ to polish it for you.

[xrvr]

Some prefer a nice satin finish to a mirror one. Jim

[streaminwild]

Wax on wax off. The polished units are karate teachers staying in shape

[dkottum]

From about 1999 they come with Alcoa refinished panels that require no polishing and remain a nice satin finish for years. I have see over 10 year old units looking as good as new.

However, with coated panels comes the need for filiform corrosion preventive maintenance wherever the panels are drilled for rivets (about 3000) or cut at the panel edges. Not difficult at all but will lead to corrosion cleaning and repainting if not done when located in corrosive environments such as coastlines or northern winter road salt.



So there is still some maintenance involved.

[dbj216]

I understand the flat mill finish and protective coating to keep Airstreams looking good for many years with minimal maintenance. The old sprayed on clear coat was good for 20 years or so before it wore off on the top half of our trailers. That made our Airstreams look really bad.

I only wish the current aluminum was an alloy that was more resistant to dents from hail, road debris and the like. It seems the 2042 T3 alclad was stronger than the 3003 O Temper they use now.

I would prefer a bit more reflectivity in the coated aluminum skins on new trailers, but that's just me.

David

[Bev1940]

When I bought my 78 Airstream the previous owners had sprayed the top half with aluminum spray paint,,,, I'm not kidding! I spent many hours getting it off,,, still have some bits left, but I too prefer camping / travelling to polishing.