Our airstream, '69 Sovereign, has a bit of a surface "condition." From what I have read on this forum, the alternatives run from: remove the old clear coating and polish the dickens out of if, or clean it and re clear coat it, or clean it and paint it (like the Airstream Life Project.)
Since I am not a kid anymore and repetitive movements (polishing) wreaks havock on my Carpel tunnels as well as other moving parts, I am not looking to polish on a regular basis. Not that I don't think that polished AS are not absolutely beautiful, just don't think I can keep one up.
The "having it done"(clear coating or painting) does not fit in with my "we tight" approach to finances.
So it seems like one could remove the clear coat, clean the aluminum with a medium buffing compound and let the aluminum establish a natural patina. Then when my ship comes in either have it recoated or finish polished.
Or, would that be counterproductive and possibly damaging to the metal?
Appreciate any opinions.
cheers, bill b.
__________________ bill b. 1969 Airstream Sovereign 31' 2001 F250 7.3 Diesel
Since you are 61 maybe you could do a Tom Sawyer and get one of your kids or grandkids to give it a little polish when they visit you. Tell them it is fun and they will be inheriting it some day. Otherwise, maybe one of the local high school kids could be hired cheap to give it a simple manual polish.
My trailer was polished once before I bought it, and since has returned to a more natural patina. It is not particularly objectionable, but it certainly shows more wear in the front where the road dirt, wind and water hit it while travelling. The back is still fairly shiny! It will soon guilt me into repolishing it, I am sure. But you should know, if you polish it once, you might be able to go several years before it bothers you enough you have to do it again. Of course, if you do it every year the job will be small, and if you wait like I did, the job will be harder. And you have 31 ft to polish!
You're really opening up a can of worms when you start polishing things! I think the surface 'condition' is not harmful. I would leave it be until that ship comes in!
It would probably take years but you should know that the natural patina without clearcoat is grey -- and I mean GREY. I had the mostly clear coat, partially polished '65 sitting next to the GREY '53 (no clear coat, never polished) and the neighbors commented on how that '53 must be an early 1900's model (not knowing when it was made). It looks THAT OLD compared to something a heck of a lot brighter. Here are the early photos of the grey look... It's also probably the reason that the '53 just moved to the back yard!
I think you're on the right track though. Take it one panel at a time. Strip your clear coat on the problem panel, compound it out, and leave it like that way if you like. I'm thinking the shinier it gets though, the more you'll want to dig in (or get sucked in).
You don't have to do it all at once -- pick your panels and tackle it -- one piece at a time.
Stephanie is also right -- once you've got one area done, it's pretty easy to brighten it back up if it fades -- much easier than the first go-around of stripping, compounding, polishing.
You're not going to harm anything by taking it part way. Make sure you REMOVE plastic pieces before you strip. The stripper will eat your plastic pieces!
Have fun!!
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My, it's good to be an Argosy owner. This question never comes up. You either paint it or you don't. No discussion. Love my Argosy. Bilby05, what is that cute little creature in your avatar?
Bilby05- Have you considered a 'cyclo' dual head orbital polisher? I've had one since before my AS and am considering a polishing party myself on my AS. I have used this cyclo polisher to keep my vehicles in the wax without the repitition of going it manually. I can wax a car very quickly and do as good a job as the detail services I used to use. Anyway, check it out on the internet, but I'm pretty sure this is the tool of choice for an AS polish.
I have an Argosy, but have seen several Airstream's painted.
The Airstream purist will go nuts if you paint.
I stripped mine with intent of polishing it, but after looking at the cost & time involved desided it would take the fun out of fulltiming. I had it painted by Rush Peterbilt in Buda, TX. I can now wash and wax my 24' in two hours. I only wax twice a year and love the ease of maintaining the shine.
I am 60 years old and don't need the hard labor of polishing my home every two years.
Good luck with your delima!
One of our forum members (sneakinup) has a factory-painted Overlander. It looks like it is a dull polish job. You should find pictures of it in the member's photos.
Thanks to all who made suggestions. I have 12 (yes, a dozen) grandchildren. Must be something in the water around here. So maybe I'll give them each a polishing cloth for Christmas and have them over for a polishing competition, as per the "Tom Sawyer" suggestion.
Yup, gray is really gray. Not sure I want to go there, although there is sort of a charm, in a 50's kind of way. The paint looks good on the Argosy, but as a respray on the Airstream I think it would be costly to paint it to a level that would look good, like the Airstream Life project do.
I like the idea of doing the clean up in a methodical and orderly way. Sounds like it would fit with my easy going attitude. Strip and do the first step of polishing, one panel at a time. Then if I get "sucked in" to the polishing thing, finish the mirror look.
Thanks for the info.
Also, the little critter on my avitar is a "bilby," a small Australian marsupial that has become somewhat of a mascot image for Australia. I started using it when I was on an Austin Healy Sprite list and one of the listers from down under said every time he saw my signature "bill b." it brought a chuckle because it reminded him of the furry little bugeyed creature in the picture. Seemed to fit.
__________________ bill b. 1969 Airstream Sovereign 31' 2001 F250 7.3 Diesel
We hear this all the time. Our company Shyne specializes in polishing, blasting, protecting and detailing Airstreams. It is true that the upkeep on a mirror finish let alone the initial polish is extremely work intensive... but oh so sweet. Protective coatings offer warranties on lasting effect. A less expensive alternative to polishing is blasting which also offers the protective option.
Hope this helps.
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