Polish Not Gang

[Distantdrummer]

Nope thats not anything to do with Poland and rope tying.

I have just been reading the Polishing Tribulations thread. Not sure why I did so, since polishing is not on my list of many things to do to my A'Stream.

Sure I think the polished ones are handsome, but reading that hundreds of man hours (Ithink I saw a number as high as 300 or more) are needed...Well those folks have lots of time on their hands I guess. More power to em but not gonna be me...ever.
And even at $10 dollars an hour (which is Not very quality help) am I gonna spend 3 grand or more to get a shine hired out ? Oh No.

Believe me NoOne that spends that amount of their time or their money to get a shine is gonna give me an inferiority complex when I pull into a space near them. Now I must admit that I do not travel much or rally at all as of yet. (My A'stream is usually a lake house/cabin park mod.

Are there any of you that will admit to being intimidated by the
un-shineyness of your trailers?

Other than status or ego satisfaction or pride of polish, is there any advantage to the shiny ones?
Are they cooler inside due to heat reflection? How much cooler?

Pride and appearance not withstanding, Is there any real harm to not polishing? i.e. does the oxidation eat away (and hence through) the outer skin? Or does the compounding and polishing eat away more of it?

Did Ol' Wally give a flip about seeing his reflection in any of his?

Do you Shinites prefer to park next to us Grungites or is that Oxidites, so it makes your shine look that much shinier or do yall avoid us like the plague from across the tracks?

Oh and one other unpopular thought;
I have wondered about the safety (or lack of it) factor in a mirror rolling down the highway with the sun reflecting off and blinding oncoming or following traffic. Wonder if legislation has ever been contemplated to outlaw such? Not that I am advocating such. Just fodder for discussion.

[InsideOut]

To each their own ~

Shari

[boatdoc]

Hi Distantdrummer;
Perhaps I have failed to see the point of your post, but it seems that you are upset with shiny trailers, why? Same way as you have the right to keep yours dull, others have the right to keep it shiny. Pride has lot to do with it as it should. Ego? maybe not with most. We all have acquired different habits in life, some good some bad. Clean shiny trailer does not fall under bad habit category. I have a 26' Arg which is painted and immaculate inside. It is always clean and waxed. Have a 2500 HD GMC always clean and waxed. My house and property surrounding it, is a showcase and pride of the block. It did not get that way by hired help. I have a wonderful wife and I treat her like gold. I am proud of her and I do like when she dressed nice.
Those are the habits we have acquired and it does not mean that we are eccentric. It is not my intention to offend you, or your oxidized/dirty trailer. If you were avoided by some in the past, it may have been involuntary. There is a such a thing as first impression. This may or may not necessarily have much to do with your
personality simply because it was based on something visual which connected you. But regardless, first impression is just what it states, and in almost 100% is involuntary. Very few of us get a chance to implement any logic first, because the first impression is just that, FIRST IMPRESSION. And for this you cannot blame anyone else, because the choice belongs to them not you. For instance, we were recently parked at the campsite few spots away from another Arg which was covered with years of black streaks. My God I thought, what a lazy person. And yes it was involuntary because I like things clean. Second thought that came to mind was "I wonder what the inside looks like?" This was involuntary again. Then I have started to rationalize as we approached, we greeted them receiving no reply. Let me assure you, you do not want to know what I thought then. This does not apply to you, but their look back at us without response to our greeting prevented us from having a chat with them. That is a power of impression. Next time you get ignored, do not get mad because you are the projector. Thanks, "Boatdoc"

[centennialman]

I have done just about everything that takes me up to the project of polishing my trailer and I can hardly wait. Any amount of work on the trailer, no matter how long it takes, is definitely worth it and a labor of love for me.

I even got a metal shaving in my eye this weekend while scraping rust off (yes, I did even have goggles on) and ended spening over $200 at the eye doctor getting it removed. Every little bit of work, including polishing is worth it....just my opinion

p.s.....I love the way the polished trailers look just as much as the ones that are left alone...

[nypatnva]

The first time I polished my trailer it took a lot of hours of stripping and elbow grease. Now I do it once a year and it takes me about 80 hours. I do it more for maintenance then anything else but I do like the shine. To me it's like owning a antique car. It doesn't matter to me if yours is gleaming or not, I'll still park next to you. The real question here is will you park next to me, will you get the polishing fever?

[crispyboy]

I doubt that I will ever have the time and patience to have a polished trailer. More power to those who do - I admire you for doing so much hard work - your trailer looks good!!
While I won't have a polished trailer I WILL HAVE A CLEAN TRAILER AND TOW VEHICLE. As Boatdoc said and like it or not first impressions are lasting and I can often tell whether or not I will have something in common with you just from a distance. I have been wrong about this but more times than not I have been right. Anyway I appreciate folks who take care of their equipment and their property - can't help it as I was raised that way.

[safari62]

The bad part of polishing is there will always be parts that are not perfect and that can be frustrating.

The best part about a polished trailer is not having people looking for a $300.00 fixer upper knocking on your door asking if it is for sale. That must tell you something about added value.

[Levon]

Originally Posted by Distantdrummer

Oh and one other unpopular thought;
I have wondered about the safety (or lack of it) factor in a mirror rolling down the highway with the sun reflecting off and blinding oncoming or following traffic. Wonder if legislation has ever been contemplated to outlaw such? Not that I am advocating such. Just fodder for discussion.

Having followed and past on coming polished Airstreams, I have never been blinded; neither have I been blinded by polished 18 wheelers transporting milk, fuel, etc. This issue was brought up by those who preferred not to polish for what ever reason.

Original factory Airstreams had a polished surface...not the highly mirror polish we put on them today. I would like to think that we have taken it to the next level. To each his/her own.

Best Regards,
Levon

[denellen]

Originally Posted by Distantdrummer

---------------


Believe me NoOne that spends that amount of their time or their money to get a shine is gonna give me an inferiority complex when I pull into a space near them. Now I must admit that I do not travel much or rally at all as of yet. (My A'stream is usually a lake house/cabin park mod.

Are there any of you that will admit to being intimidated by the
un-shineyness of your trailers?

Other than status or ego satisfaction or pride of polish, is there any advantage to the shiny ones?
Are they cooler inside due to heat reflection? How much cooler?

Pride and appearance not withstanding, Is there any real harm to not polishing? i.e. does the oxidation eat away (and hence through) the outer skin? Or does the compounding and polishing eat away more of it?

Did Ol' Wally give a flip about seeing his reflection in any of his?

Do you Shinites prefer to park next to us Grungites or is that Oxidites, so it makes your shine look that much shinier or do yall avoid us like the plague from across the tracks?

Oh and one other unpopular thought;
I have wondered about the safety (or lack of it) factor in a mirror rolling down the highway with the sun reflecting off and blinding oncoming or following traffic. Wonder if legislation has ever been contemplated to outlaw such? Not that I am advocating such. Just fodder for discussion.

"Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar"

[Boondocker]

When I look at mine, I am glad I put the work into the polishing that I did. Come next spring it is going to need a lot of work again and I might not be so psyched about it. I have to say though even a trailer as poorly polished as mine sure does look neat. Cant blame anyone who doesn't want to polish though.

[Sixty3TW4US]

Distantdrummer, WOW !!?? i'm not really sure why u said what u said ?? I never knew that protecting one's investment and maintaining it was a bad thing. You sound pissed off for some reason. Sounds like Grungites or Oxidites (as u call them)have a problem with the Shinites. These trailers cost thousands of $ in some cases, it makes alot of sense to protect them. Polish or not to polish who cares, lets have fun and go camping.

[Ganaraska]

A trailer that is not polished may well last longer than one that is polished. Aluminum forms a skin of oxide which is very durable. If you polish it off, it starts oxidizing again. Theoretically years of polishing off the oxide could wear right thru.

So, an unpolished trailer might last 500 years vs only 200 for one that is polished regularly LOL.

[hampstead38]

We all make decisions about how to invest our limited time. Whether a trailer is polished or not, I'm not inclined to make any value judgments about the occupants. Perhaps rather than spend 200 hours polishing aluminum, the owner spent 200 hours volunteering at a local hospice or involved in some other local charity. Or maybe they spent 200 hours watching Seinfeld reruns. Who knows?

I started my career in pyschology. I worked with some wonderful human beings who kept messy homes and cars. I also worked with some tidy, well-groomed sex offenders. Perhaps it's my experience working with a very diverse range of people, but I gave up trusting appearances long ago.

At the end of the day, we've all chosen to own an Airstream for our own reasons. And those reasons are often complex and sometimes paradoxical. Certainly, I can't argue that our decision to renovate a 41-year-old trailer was based on efficiency or economy... although as we go through the renovation process, many of our decisions will reflect a certain logical thought process.

At the end of the day, we'll probably go with a very modest polishing of the exterior walls and we'll use a coating system with silver paint for the roof. Why? I can't see any reason to polish to roof. A coating system may actually reduce conductive heat transfer and it may provide a more watertight roof. We'll also probably use more paint and less "traditional" colors than many vintage owners. Why? Because we have the Airstream to please us, not anyone else.

[Diesel1]

Weeell, I polished the top half of my door last week- looks way kool. I've owned and polished the alluminum on my motorcycles for years. A real pain in the hand, and a bike is much smaller. At some point I will polish my Airstream, just seems silly to me not to. But untill then I will keep draging my embarsingly DULL & black streaked trailer around, camping as I go. Its way to much fun to wait to use it. Adios, John

[daanderson]

Would I be out of line to say you sound dull to me?

[Jester]

A polished trailer makes a classic trailer a classy trailer. Nothing better than a shiny Airstream. I sell Airstream polishing kits and my shiny little Airstream has multiplied my sales. It draws a crowd at shows and any campground I go to. If you don't like the attention you would get then don't polish it.
Using a polished Airstream is also an excellent prop for any type or store or promotion. A dull Airstream just can't be used that way.
And oh yeah, I would hate to follow me down the road in the dark. jestcoproducts.com

[Jim Foster]

And...........

You get a great view when you are parked in a beautiful place. [IMG]file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/LYNN&J%7E1/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot.jpg[/IMG]

[Larry in MO]

Originally Posted by Ganaraska

Aluminum forms a skin of oxide which is very durable. If you polish it off, it starts oxidizing again. Theoretically years of polishing off the oxide could wear right thru.

It's been a long time since I had any book learnin' but I think that is backwards. When you polish paint, it gradually goes away. As I remember
(and this is not to be bet upon!) polishing aluminum actually rearranges the surface w/out losing material.

All polishing is is flattening a surface so light is reflected evenly. Hence the difference between a rock and a diamond. (Maybe not, depending on where you buy your jewelry, I guess.) Polishing paint knocks off the high points and the material gradually goes away. Polishing aluminum builds the surface w/out removing material.

Disclaimer: I'm operating on memory so be gentle if I'm wrong!

Polish or no polish? I'll let you know when I've spent all my money and have replaced/repaired/refurbished all I have. Then we'll see........

[Wayne&Sam]

Originally Posted by boatdoc

Hi Distantdrummer;
Perhaps I have failed to see the point of your post, but it seems that you are upset with shiny trailers, why?

I didn't take it that way. I just thought he was giving another point of view and throwing out some questions for discussion. We've seen lots of threads about polishing, but I don't recall seeing any about dull.

I think it's kind of humorous. Of course I'm an innocent bystander with a 2007.

[overlander64]

I took a slightly different track. I used my Overlander in its natural state between 1995 and 2002, but something always nagged at me from distant memories. The flat gray look just didn't fit my memories of the trailer when it was new in 1964. I finally took the trailer to the Ruths (P & S Trailer Service -- Helena, OH) and had them polish it to the original luster. The Ruths Plasticoated the coach at the same time, and the coach still looks fresh and shiny today -- twice annual Walbernize applications keep it looking good. Every time I look at the side driveway and see the coach sitting there, it reminds me of that first camping trip in the coach back in 1964.

The Befor look of the Overlander:




The Overlander today:






Kevin