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trailertrash · 07-19-2003, 08:20 PM

I think if I didn't get off on the results and had such good luck with my system, I'd paint mine a combo of bright silver and gunmetal gray- I have 10 right now, and an Awlgrip job on each would be around $75,000 total- and I'd rather just buff away. I really want one of those damn Airmarks though- it would make life sssoooooo easy!
You guys with clear coat need to check out a test spot with the orange paint remover at Homo Depot, and its water based, works well when ya leave it sit for about 45 minutes,, and then rinse it off with high water pressure.
Pick some up and do a small test spot and see what happens. I also hear that NAPA makes a pretty good remover for aluminum, but my local store doesn't carry it...

garry · 07-19-2003, 08:34 PM

So how do I get some of the SS ??????????????

Garry

Astrodokk · 07-19-2003, 09:30 PM

I was just watching "Power Block", an automotive show about souped up engines, and they advertised a metal sealer that prevents corrosion and oxidation on all kinds of metals, including aluminum. They said it allows for very few polishings due to the seal. It happened so fast that I couldn't write it down. Hopefully someone has heard or seen it and knows about what I'm referring to. I saw that their website is www.powerblocktv.com, but I couldn't find info on the sealer.

trailertrash · 07-20-2003, 03:57 AM

any of those sealer/protectors that didn't leave a dull finish. I just checked on some stuff called Zoop Seal- but it would cost around $3-400 to do a trailer- and I have no idea if it will leave a dull coating like the rest.
The yacht industry has a product called Woody Wax- it works really well, last about 6 months, but leaves it milky- just like Armor All does, but at 5 times the price- it does last longer though...

airstreamcaravel · 07-24-2003, 06:45 AM

Joel (Chitownairstreams) Eric (Silvertwinkie) and I (Airstreamcaravel) got together last night to start polishing
Joe's trailer .... I tried the much typed about "Southern Shine"

I can't say that I was un-impressed ... With a great deal of pressure and rubbing, I WAS able to polish a small area (the size of a half dollar) in a relatively small amount of time.

It did leave a fair amount of swirls and scratches. It appeared
to be a "surface shine" and had no where near the depth of shine the is achieved by the tried and true method of 4 grades of Nuvite and a dual cyclo.

That being said, I feel that the product does has its good qualities and uses ... I feel it could be a great supplemental product to the shinning process. I just need to figure out where it would fit in to the overall shinning and maintaining process.

I dont feel that It should replace the traditional process.

Didn't have time last night .... but will try the SS with a dual cyclo...
Could be interesting!

Dave

nds · 07-24-2003, 07:24 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by airstreamcaravel
Didn't have time last night .... but will try the SS with a dual cyclo...
Could be interesting!

That may be the key right there. As you said, with Nuvite and a dual cyclo, you're going through a 4 step process. If you were only using a rag and elbow grease for the test section last night, I don't think that would be a fair comparison.

If I understand Trailertrash correctly (from previous posts on this product) a buffer is recommended. This product just helps eliminate some of those 4 steps. Is this correct TT?

airstreamcaravel · 07-24-2003, 07:43 AM

It is my experience that its IS the Four Grade process of polishing with Nuvite that gives the DEPTH of shine that was missing with the Southern Shine.

I am yet to be convinced that there is any subsitute for this tried and true method. (But I am keeping an open mind)

Dave

trailertrash · 07-24-2003, 07:54 AM

I've said explicitly- "YOU HAVE TO USE A BUFFER/GRINDER!!!"
You trying it by hand was a waste of your time- and I suppose Nuvite at its price would work by hand? No.
I have 10 trailers right now- and I can buy Nuvite for wholesale. I know that if I take SS and buff with it on an older badly oxidized trailer, that it comes out shining after the first pass, and if anything is left, it comes out the second pass, and I finish it off with something that is very mild and leaves a higher luster- Flitz, which I got for free, or a product called Ultra High Gloss Polish from Aqua Tech in Wilmington NC.
Steve was going to try it on his already polished but slightly dull Caravel, and I advised him to use it on something that was in worse shape- he could go with the Flitz, Nuvite, Ultra HG, finishing products, as his hard work is already done.
On my buffer- I use it on speed 3 out of 6- relatively slow, but you have to experiment and see what happens- be careful not to use an accelerated speed and burn your metal and leave it stretched and warped.
Good luck trying it again- but don't waste your time "hand buffing" a 20' aluminum trailer- with any product...

nds · 07-24-2003, 08:05 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by trailertrash
you guys are funny!

That may be. We may even be a riot!

I'm just trying to get a better understanding of what the up-side of SS is over Nuvite. If you're still having to go through all the steps with SS as you do with Nuvite, what's the advantage? I was of the impression that you were suggesting this product as an easier or quicker method of getting that same high gloss shine. Maybe I misunderstood your earlier posts on this product.

airstreamcaravel · 07-24-2003, 08:12 AM

I feel like I've has my paws slapped!

I guess TT has never read "How to win friends and influence people"

A simple thank you for the attempt and a steering towards his
preferred method would have been fine.

Dave

Chitown AirStreamers · 07-24-2003, 08:21 AM

Well- I received the S.S. yesterday from T.T.- & the funny thing was that Airstreamcaraval & Silvertwinkie were both coming to Mi Casa to look at my A.S.. Dave knows his stuff & just the small spot he polished with the Nuvite looks AWESOME! Really , no words can give the work Dave did in a short time justice. The S.S. arrived & Dave tried it but I Also tried it & I think it's O'kay- but does leave scratches & swirls where the Nuvite is a better quality. I'm new to this stuff- but thats my opinion. Okay stuff but there is better out there. T.T. thank you for letting me try the product.

trailertrash · 07-24-2003, 08:44 AM

Sorry for wasting your time.
All I hear on this board is guys taking weeks of work to shine up a trailer. All I buy is old oxidized trailers and I get them done in a period of about 8-12 hours. Not by hand- never said that- with a buffer, and I'm trying to get an Airmark polisher soon.

I apologize for the inconvenience, and when I said you were funny, it was meant well- I had a dream last week that I had to polish my whole trailer with a Dremel tool...

If anyone had done exactly as I do- HS buffer, and a 3M coarse wool pad, and strip the pad with a spur every app, I can't imagine why it would be a different result- guess I'm lucky.

My opinion of a Cyclo hasn't changed- its a joke, and I don't want to go over my trailers in any 4 step process- and the Cyclo leaves as much swirling as my buffer does with the softer wool pads- more than the foam.

This thread has taken a bad turn- I guess its my fault, and the mods can delete it for the forums sake. Please do so- I don't need the negativity of being associated with a lie.
Again- sorry...

nds · 07-24-2003, 10:59 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by trailertrash
Sorry for wasting your time.

No apologies needed. I'm still interested in this product and, still confused in the method of polishing that you use, as opposed to this 4 step method I keep hearng about with Nuvite. Being new to all of this, I'm just trying to get a better understanding.

TBKP's Overlander · 07-24-2003, 11:02 AM

You guys still haven't tried it like Trailer Trash said, right? Have you used the polisher? Why not solve this once and for all. Go get the 3M pad and do it like he says. If it works good if it doesn't oh well.

thenewkid64 · 07-24-2003, 11:14 AM

I would say it is a matter of not understanding the process more so than a lie.

Moderator hat on:

If TT wants the thread deleted as a whole due to his not wanting to be associated with something that would tarnish his image, I can do so. But after re-reading the thread I do not see where it is more than a lively discussion of a product that one member has found to be a better way.

Moderator hat off:

From an eariler TT post:
In MOST cases, I've found that it works best, and I use it with different pads- 3M coarse wool on poor skin, 3M yellow pad- which is much less abrasive- to get swirls out after I'm done, foam pads on high shined surfaces that I've gotten to the point where the swirls are almost gone, but very light buffing will brighten it even further.
I have a trailer now that was so badly pitted that I have to use a green 3M scotchbrite pad, and remove the very top layer, like wet sending a cars paint.

Where can we source these so the product can be tried as you have found it to work so well? Do you use the product with the pads? (my polishing ignorance is showing, this is why I have Argosy's)

qqq · 07-24-2003, 01:22 PM

How can a polish tarnish his image?

Hart

Silvertwinkie · 07-24-2003, 01:31 PM

Can't we all just get along.

Eric

Creampuff · 07-24-2003, 06:25 PM

I vote we keep it.TT has put forth what works for him.How many trailers have YOU polished?I can't even finish one!
There's more ways than one to skin a cat-or is that 'polish a skin"?

silverhawk · 07-24-2003, 07:13 PM

I say keep it too. That Was a fun thread lots of spirit. Not to mention useful info.

Silver Bullet · 07-24-2003, 08:13 PM

on polishing our '62. Written by Airstream, too boot! Dupont's No. 7 (now Turtle Wax No. 7) polishing compound is the recommended product. Application is to rub "with" the grain of the aluminum. I did this best part of 12 yrs. ago, and yes, am ready to go at it again. Last time took 8 cans of polish for 26 foot of TT, but when done I could see my reflection perfectly at 6+ feet. The composition of metals "then and now" have alot to do with the final outcome.

Oscar