Looking for advice on getting the dull finish off my "new" 1986 31' sovereign. I just found this beauty and everything appears in excellent shape except the roof. It is faded and has a very dull finish. I understand this is a plasticoat, but can I strip this and recoat the roof? Any info on
your experience will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Daryl M
I'm in the same boat Daryl. Roof and sides getting badly "sunburned" here in Florida. Would like to strip and recoat or do what ever necessary to restore. Sorry I can't help, I'm wondering, too. Will watch for replies with you
I meet an Airstreamer in FL who own a 70 or 71 Overlander (I own a 69). He striped the clear coat off his trailer, waxed it and left it. It looked great. So after offering these words of encouragement, I have to admit I do not recall the product he used!!
We are approaching the "polishing phase" with our '64 GlobeTrotter, so have been asking everybody some of these same questions.
We were at a rally a couple of weeks ago and there were several shiny trailers that had been stripped of their clearcoat. One of the owners said he used Turtle Wax to maintain the finish and the other said he used Lemon Pledge. The idea being that rather than putting another coating on the trailer, just protect the aluminum from oxidizing. It will oxidize some, but slower and it will be even rather than just in the damaged areas of the clearcoat, which is what makes it look splotchy.
As far as stripping the old clearcoat off, we are planning on using an airplane stripper. There is a real good webpage with lots of polishing information at:
Thanks InsideOut. I was thinking of doing the same thing - not the whole trailer but just the top.
Stripping is not my thing but I can learn how, I guess.
Daryl,
FYI- The skin on you '86 is different than the older trailers, its more grainy and polishing it to a shine would be difficult and it would not come out that good compared to the older ones. To help preserve and polish your plasticote use Walbernize products, they are on the web.
Reviving this topic= if there are grey spots on the roof is this is a sign that the plasticoat is fading? I have started to get some of these on the front and rear domes, where my AS sticks out of the shelter. I have polished it some and it has not gotten worse yet, but I wonder if I should strip the clear coat off these areas.
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Rallys twice a year..Lots of fun, food, and aluminum.
I meet an Airstreamer in FL who own a 70 or 71 Overlander (I own a 69). He striped the clear coat off his trailer, waxed it and left it. It looked great. So after offering these words of encouragement, I have to admit I do not recall the product he used!!
I'm interested too.
Jim
The "fully polishable" Airstreams ended circa 1979. The following year most coaches were made with a non-polishable aluminum in some areas of the shell. If it is the very center panel on the top of the roof (whre the A/C is), you can paint the panel white, as the new Airstreams come with that panel painted white. It helps both with heat control (white reflects more of the light spectrum than silver), and with peeling clearcoat.
As far as polishing products, there are many, some better than others.
And yes, Alan, the grey areas are precursers to peeling clearcoat. There seem to be two types of MoHo's of your coaches vintage, those that have had the clearcoat fail, and those that will.
One is to use the aircraft stripper on top being EXTRA careful that it doesn't get on the sides and then following the instructions clearly listed by other posters to prepare it for a sprayed clearcoating or....
Do like A/S does for the newer ones: Paint the top white.
From the ground you really can't tell. And the other benefit is being much cooler in the heat of the summer due to reflection. Obviously you don't want to paint the end curved sections.
I have seen the Moho roof painted white, and would be ok with that for the center section. The faded areas on mine are on the front dome roof area. I might strip it or consider painting it silver/aluminum color.
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Rallys twice a year..Lots of fun, food, and aluminum.
I have seen the Moho roof painted white, and would be ok with that for the center section. The faded areas on mine are on the front dome roof area. I might strip it or consider painting it silver/aluminum color.
I wonder if you could strip the panels affected and put an automotive clear coat on it? I remember seeing something about this on another thread, but I have forgotten the final determination.
Just on memory, I think the auto clearcoat does not have the expansion qualities the the A/S plasticoat has and would start cracking with the alumiunum's greater expansion/contraction.
My 1987 trailer was clearcoated at P&S by previous owner. They did not do the top two panels. They are just as you describe. Not really oxidized but, dull alum coating.
With awning on curb side and on the street side, the color is apparent but, does not detract a lot.
I would talk to someone like P&S before I jumped into that job.
I think I would opt for the white coating (epoxy, etc.) before I tried to strip the top. What a job that would be supporting yourself and trying to buff out the top.
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