Scratches...

[mlynn2003]

Hello. I'm new to the airstream rejuvenating business and have a quick question regarding the exterior skins. How hard are surface scratches to remove by buffing out? One scratch is not too deep, its a phone number that has been lightly keyed into the side (how rude of someone to do!). The other is quite a bit deeper, rough to the touch, about 8 inches long and 4 inches high. It looks like someone was intentionally scratching back and forth with some sort of tool.

Buff out or replace the panels? Thanks for the advice!

Meg

[BIGED52]

Meg, Have you already stripped the coating off the panels? You will need to strip that off b4 you try to buff out the scratches. If they are not too deep you may be able to buff them completely out. Then buffing the panels to a nice shine is possible. I would not want to try replacing those panels on a nice vintage trailer. Panels can be very expensive and must be installed and seal well or more issues will follow. Ed

[Becky B.]

Are you doing a mirror finish on your trailer? If so, you can buff them out with some time & effort. If not, you can still buff them out, but it will be shiny & not match the rest of your trailer.

[mlynn2003]

Thanks for the suggestions. At this time, we have done nothing to the trailer. Since we are new to this, we wanted to take the winter to build a plan of attack and a budget. We know we have to gut the inside. I think there might be a mold problem. We are not sure if the windows leaked or that panels leaked to cause the mold and warped floor. And figured with the inside taken down, if we would also need to replace the scratched panels. We are not sure what finish to even go with at this point.

[easyride]

I have had to use a fine sandpaper to get out scratches,you have to progressively go to finer ,then go to the compound. Dave