interior polishing and rough curtain track

[sammamishsafari]

Hi, We have a 65 Safari and have a few questions please. What do you use to make the curtain track plastic holders glide smoothly. I figure there is some kind of silicone spray? Can anyone tell me a brand name if possible?

Also, we are not going to polish the trailer yet. I think it has a coating as it looks so good but I can't tell if it does. However, I am cleaning the inside aluminum trim such as under the windows and I used Mothers Polish which made it shiny but there are lots of little raised freckles, for lack of a better word, which do not come off. Is this permanent or do the walburnize and other polish products used on the outside take this stuff off? I tried a green scrubbie pad but it only took off some of the bumps. I want to do the screen door also.

I know this last question belongs in another forum but can one wash and wax the aluminum instead of doing the big polishing deal? We prefer the satin look which our trailer has and it is not all old and cruddy looking. We are going to park our trailer on a piece of property and want it to sort of not be too shiny in the woods and attract attention. Well, it will attract attention its so cool but you know what I mean! Thanks for all your help!

Julia

[overlander64]

Greetings Julia!

Welcome to the Forums and the world of Vintage Airstreaming!

RE: Curtain Tracks

I experienced the "sticky operation" of my draperies in my Overlander after purchase, and found that there were two culprits. The first culprit was a build up of paint from previous owners interior repaints. The second culprit was wear on the drapery glides.

The solution was to get a a very fine grit sanding sponge to clean up the bottom of the track. Cleaning the paint build-up from the track that was hidden by the top rail was much more difficult - - resorted to a steel rod with a piece of top-grade fine sandpaper wrapped around it. Replacing the sliders was the second part of the solution - - the glides are actually a current Kirsch Drapery hardware product (at least for my '64 Overlander). When I had my interior redone, I purchased some extra glides from the Fowlers.

RE: Cleaning/Polishing Interior Trim

Cleaning and polishing the interior trim is just like handling the exterior only on a smaller scale. The bumps you are seeing are very similar to the pitting that you might see on an old chrome bumper that has been exposed to the elements. These can be polished out using a "Dremel" tool with a polishing kit (I found my kits at WalMart). Walbernize, at least the formula that is readily available at most Airstream dealers is strictly a wax-type product it has very little if any polishing capability - - there is an older formula of Walbernize designed for non-plasticoated coaches that does have polishing grit but it will damage plasticoated surfaces.

RE: Waxing/Preserving Exterior Finish

There is no reason why you shouldn't apply a coat of Walbernize to the exterior of your coach. The modern formulation of Walbernize is quite easy to apply and will maintain your current level of gloss if applied at least twice a year.

Good luck with your cleaning project!

Kevin

[sammamishsafari]

Hi Kevin,

Thanks for the help. Actually I ended up finding some spray silicone and it worked like a dream. My track is original as is our trailer so no paint was on the track and the plastic hangers were just scratching along very sticky.

With the corrosion on the interior aluminum trim, I decided not to be so much of a perfectionist and so I lightly sanded with a fine grit black sand paper block which took off the bumps as far as feeling them but you can still see faint freckles. I repolished and it is OK I think. Certainly much better than it was! The idea of using a dremel while I'm sure it works, just is too much work when I have other things to do on the trailer but thanks very much!

Julia