Strip 'n Polish Project Thread ( lots of great tips and links)

[karolyn]

Hello. I stripped my trailer last year and am now in the process of removing corrosion. It has all of this gray squiggly stuff all over it. My trailer sat out in the weather in Corpus Christi, Texas for many years. Does anyone have a solution for polishing this out? I so want my trailer to look like a mirror. It is a '76 Caravanner International 25 ft. I love it and want it to look as great as it can get.

[ALANSD]

Originally Posted by 84Sovereign

But…it did not strip the coating from the aluminum trim strips. These are the aluminum strips that received the blue plastic “rub rail” strip along the sides. (The blue plastic has been removed in the photo.) We have two in the center and a larger one all the way around the bottom.

Tape off the area above and below the rails with blue tape. Spray or paint on "aircraft remover" from walmart or wherever you get it. The coating on them will come off. They will not mirror shine but will look a whole lot cleaner. I did the fender trim and rails on my 1982 280 Classic, our 78 sovereign and now doing it on our 80 Excella which has a thick coat of blue paint on the rails. It took it off the taillight surrounds also.

[shantz]

Of course it's been raining all weekend now that I have my clear coat off and am ready to polish
anyway working with a 7" polisher from Harbor freight ( $49) with wool bonnet and Diamond Brite ($12) polish. I am very pleased with the Diamond Brite so far. My plan is to knock off the oxidation and make it somewhat shiny while I wait for my new axles to arrive and then off to start camping season.
Over the summer or fall I will do some more polishing and make it shine.
will update photos tomorrow on my progress

[magna1111]

Hello,
I have spent a few weeks reading all the posts on cleaning, stripping, and polishing.
I have decided to strip off the failing clearcoat with Napier removall.
The next two steps, polishing and sealing have me stumped.

Since the as is 31 feet, I will not do the compounding, c7, s and all those numbers, as I have 5 children and other things to take care of. Mt primary concern is to protect my as from further damage, and to make it look pretty-not a complete mirror finish.

In reading what others used for polish on a non clear coated surface, It gets a bit confusing, as there are so many types. Wondering if the type of polish matters as much as the sealant.

As of today, I am leaning towards the sharkhide polish then the shark hide sealant. Or, another product that could seal it up good.

What I do not know, could there be an ingredient in either, or any sealant, that could damage the seals/caulking on the trailer?

Again, since I am not polishing the clearcoat, (it will be removed) should I be looking at different products?

Has anyone done clearcoat removal, then polish (without the complex compounding etc)?, then sealant?

Thanks all, if I have missed anything, please let me know. I hope to start this project next week, ordering the removall today. Just scared to start, as I do not want to make mistakes that will hurt my lovely as.

[t_birder]

Originally Posted by magna1111

What I do not know, could there be an ingredient in either, or any sealant, that could damage the seals/caulking on the trailer?

Hi magna,
First of all, thank you very much for considering Sharkhide Metal Protectant and our metal polish.
To answer your question. I can't speak for any other coatings you may find out there, but Sharkhide is safe to use on these areas. Sharkhide is suspended in two types of solvents, which by themselves, aren't good to use on non solvent safe elastomers. However, once you apply Sharkhide, these solvents evaporate literaly in seconds. Once this happens, the Sharkhide itself is left behind and it's a blend of harmless accrylics.
I hope this helps,
Clint

[ALANSD]

Repolish question- My trailer was highly polished, and as with my other Airstreams, (which were shiny but not as shiny as this one)... I tried Liquid Glass to seal the finish. At least to hold off the repolish awhile.
The two panels I used it on actually got cloudier, and use of tool box polish and a few other metal polishes has not cleared it up to the level of the surrounding panels.
What is up? Do I need to compound these with something even coarser?

[beckybillrae]

When I polished my former trailer to a mirror finish, I too tried the Liquid Glass. I wasn't happy either because of the cloudy film that was left behind. I really didn't find anything that didn't leave some kind of film, since it was like putting stuff on a mirror. I finally settled on Maguires wax. It kept the rain spots off for a while, but you really do have to recoat every 6 months or so. I now have an '86 that I am redoing the outside, but not to a mirror finish. I'm experimenting with the Sharkhide stuff & it seems to be clear. I'm not sure how it would do on a mirror finish, though. Good luck with your mirror finish & try not to obcess! By the way, I would remove the Liquid Glass before trying a wax (not something like Nufinish--wax).

[Aage]

Originally Posted by Safari Tim

I'm about 2/3 done with my yearly cycloing and wax job...

I'm wondering if that's the way it works once you polish it: it will need re-polishing with wax regularly?

Ocan one give it a new clearcoat once it's polished and forget about it for a while?

[ALANSD]

I have tried a few polishes to clear up that one panel, maybe just not getting deep enough into the metal. I am going to try Alcoa heavy duty polish from the Airstream Store and see how that does.