Polishing Tool Comparison- What Works Best?

[millionairstream]

Have fun with this info guys. My stuff is shiny. I have enough to do without being harassed- I'm out...

[muddy_hollow]

I'm late to this thread, but I have to say that I am sorta surprised at the whole tone of the posts. Flame away.

My old man used to say, "for each their own". If your technique works and you get good results, who cares how you got there.

One manufacturer that I did not see listed here was lakecountrymfg.com I bought my three types of pads from them and they hooked me up with a good deal on nuvite. Guess what, it works pisser! I broke down and bought a cyclo this year and guess what, it looks even better!

It works for me. I'm glad to see others have their own techniques and they have shiny campers.

At the end of the day, all I say to my wife, in my best Austin Powers voice, " Hey baby, do you like it polished..."

Keep it piffi

TTYL

Muddy

[uwe]

Muddy,
I couldn't agree with you more on the part where it works for you, go for it.
The idea in this and all other threads should be sharing experiences and maybe finding better ways to do things. New or old ideas should not be attacked, no personal agenda or personality problems should spoil the value of a thread. Different methods do not need to be defended as if they were gospel, either.
We can only grow and learn if we are open to new methods, even if they're not new to other industries, merely getting adapted and refined for our purpose.

[Lone Rangerette]

Ok, In plain English please....for a non-mechanical female. Bought my first Airstream, 1969 Caravel. It was professionally polished 5 yrs ago. I would like to bring it to a high shine....what do you recommend?

[uwe]

Originally Posted by Sharon L

Ok, In plain English please....for a non-mechanical female. Bought my first Airstream, 1969 Caravel. It was professionally polished 5 yrs ago. I would like to bring it to a high shine....what do you recommend?

It depends very much on teh current condition of the metal.
Are you planning on doing this yourself, or farming it out to a polishing service?
If you want to do it yourself, then more than likely you will have to do some light compounding first, to remove the dull corrosion. You might be able to just do this step only, it will give you a shine, although with swirl marks. You can also use theh compounder with finer polish as a second step, and see how it comes out.
Take a look at these links:
www.perfectpolish.com
www.vintagetrailersupply.com
Both have good basic information on how to get started.
You will have to buy some tools and polish. Why not do a forum search with teh terms "polish" "Nuvite" Compounder" Cyclo", etc. You will get huge results, and much information that way.
Good Luck!

[GreatPumpkin]

Originally Posted by millionairstream

I've rigged this up and stacked 3 pads- .....

I'd like to see that - did you chuck that into a drill or what? You say it works, but its h*** - hard on the user or what?

Originally Posted by millionairstream

The nice thing about it was that you could set up a piece of angle aluminum clamped to a bench or table, and use it to clean the pad very easily- and the pads wear very nicely. You get a LOT of use out of them.... He has a $29 Harbor Freight buffer, which maybe lasts him a year if he's lucky.....

More info here please - I noticed that when I did my front window the other day, that my buffing pad was caking up. What's the best way to get rid of that? What buffing pads do you recommend? I've got the same cheapo HF buffer.

[Lone Rangerette]

Thanks...I have bookmarked the sites. I figured since the Caravel is not in really bad condition, I will try to make it a family project and put the grandkids to work...maybe pull a little Tom Sawyer, like painting a fence.

[ALANSD]

just watch that the grandkids don't get overly enthusiastic and 'polish' scratches into the skin.

This thread is kinda like the one on walbernize and waxes. To each their own. My Airstream got my special treatment and it always looked great.

[joewinfield]

Hi Alansd and great point. I have appreciated your posts, sorry you're no longer an older Airstream Motorhome owner. I've enjoyed this thread and learned from it. Seem to me that lots of us including some moderater are being a little overly sensitive. If some new ideas and chances to learn then some positive points. If some bothered by some then don't click on the thread. Just my take on what seems to be a touchy subject. joe

[overlander63]

Originally Posted by rvlover

Seem to me that lots of us including some moderater are being a little overly sensitive. If some new ideas and chances to learn then some positive points. If some bothered by some then don't click on the thread. Just my take on what seems to be a touchy subject. joe

Joe, the moderation team just cleaned up the carnage after a flame war in another polishing thread, so we are indeed a little oversensitive about the subject right now. Things that would normally not be a big deal, and overlooked, are being scutinized with a microscope

[ALANSD]

agreed guys....we are here to learn. We just want to avoid some member stuffing their ideas in a closed minded fashion down every one elses throats.
But minimal flaming doesn't bother anyone....

[Metta Photo]

Hello Streamer friends. I hope that I don't get flamed to badly. New guy showing the start of compounding/polishing of 66 Airstream (26'). Question: what the heck are the taillights made of? Doesn't seem to want to shine up very well but I don't think it's plastic. Also, the "hot" cover seems to be painted metal. Is this ordinary? I hope that my pics show up on this. If not I'll try again after I shower and get this black stuff off of me!

[Metta Photo]

Does anyone know where I might find a replacement for the runnaway reflector?

[overlander63]

Hi, and welcome. Nice polish job, so far. The taillight housings are made from a pot-metal-like stuff, that doesn't seem to take too well to polishing. Paint doesn't seem to sick to it, either. The water heater cover is just painted steel, so it will not polish up.
Your reflector should be available through better-equipped auto parts stores.
Mineral spirits work well for getting the "black gunk" off you, if you have any left after polishing the trailer, or you could pick up a can of GoJo hand cleaner from the parts store while you are getting your reflector.

[Metta Photo]

Thanks for the go-jo advice. I seem to have a knack of getting the aluminum oxide on my face and arms. Hopefully I'll be able to finish up soon on the polish and then turn to something scary: replacing the floor! Going to try the shell on techniques I've been reading.

[uwe]

The magic yellow cleaner from the 99c store does a grat job on the black also, both on your hands and around the rivets and seams.

[wahoonc]

The taillight housings are pot metal. I have seen decent results painting them using a Chrome Paint. I would check around on the water heater door. I thought the OEM ones were stainless. I know the one on my 75 is. Yours might have been a replacement.

Aaron

[john hd]

you can get aluminum doors for that heater.

my trailer has one.

john

[65Toaster]

I've recently done my first "rebuff" on my 65 Caravel after one year of outside service. I used the Nuvite/Compound/Cyclo method, all with F7. I was disappointed to see underlying swirls when viewed under harsh sunlight. It took me 20 documented hours for the rebuff and since I saw swirls, I probably didn't Cyclo enough. I've been seriously thinking about buying the Airmark AH-2 because of the cost/air requirements versus the AH-8. The AH-2 has a 3" x 6" drum, takes a 90 psi/17 CFM air compressor and costs $700. My question is, has anyone had experience with this smaller unit polishing their Airstream? The big AH-8 belly buffer seems out of my league in both price and air compressor needs.

[uwe]

I have no experience with the Airmark polishers. But I do have similar issues with the swirls.
Have you tried the cyclo tool with fresh cotton and Nuvite S ?
I found that cleanliness is of paramount importance...even just a speck of dust on the pad can cause swirls.