New Owners - '67 Sovereign

[m.nolte]

If there were ever any doubts, its now official, I've lost my mind.

I stripped the clear coat, well I stripped half the clear coat, the other half is gonna get it as soon as I recover from the smell of aluminum baked citrus.

Stripping the clear coat has helped...some...in certain areas. But there are a lot of areas that have corrosion, scratches, etc and it really just made those obvious. So part of the trailer looks better, the other part looks worse. In an effort to reduce the worse I decided to polish. Not fully, just the car buffer/alum polish method. It is helping and definitely makes the trailer more even in appearance. It is faster than the other methods but I have learned a few things along the way.

1-polishing is work, lots of work...and yes the car buffer method is less work but it is still work and the end results are not nearly as satisfying as the other methods.
The car buffer method basically reduces haze and removes the years of built up grime and oxidation. It does not 'cut' the metal so you really aren't doing a whole lot more than spit shining the aluminum. It does look better but since I am already going to be doing about half the work I think I would have been happier biting the bullet and going all the way to the Nuvite or Jestco methods. I will probably go ahead and finish with this method but I see more polishing in my future, maybe this winter.

2-there are no shortcuts. If you try, with any method, you will just be re-polishing the area you just polished.

3-take your time. When you can no longer feel your arms, its probably a good time to stop because, really, if you can't even hold the buffer you really aren't accom-polishing anything. (see what I did there)

I have many hours of polishing left in my future so I'm sure I will have more do's (okay I'll be honest it will mostly be don'ts) to share.

What do you think, should I swap to the more intensive methods or finish what I have started? Bear in mind that it is almost summer here in South Alabama and Slim is 30' long.

some pics attached - the polished rear end and the line where the polishing starts/stops. Its pretty good at 100yards, any closer and you can see the problem areas, in some areas its hard to tell any difference up close.

[Rolland]

I used a DA and lots of sandpaper, started with 600 where it was rough, then went to 1000, 1200, and finally 1500 before going back to polishing, first with a polisher, then with a cyclo. I still have a long ways to go, but it looks good at 50' and the surfaces are pretty even. I will do the whole thing again with Flitz Polish before our next trip. It is a lot of work, and being crazy probably does help. Happy Buffing! Rolland


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[m.nolte]

Thanks Rolland! I may have to try the sandpaper on the bad areas. Your trailer looked great in the photos, I'd be happy with that. At least until my next bout of crazy.


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[Paddledipper]

Way to jump right in and take on the challenge! I'm still in the sitting back wondering when I'll be brave enough to start phase. Can't wait to see more pics...

[m.nolte]

C'mon over to the dark side Joy! Who needs sunshine when you can have the aluminum self-tanner.

[Rolland]

Adding a wireless backup camera and portable directv dish this month, hope to get back on the road to NM soon


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[m.nolte]

I quit. Polishing sucks. If you are going to do it just do it. Better yet hire someone else to do it.

Sorry, rant over. In all seriousness, if you are going to take the time to buff the trailer, go ahead and just polish it. I now have a mostly, partly buffed trailer and all I can focus on is the filiform corrosion. Shiny filiform corrosion. But still filiform corrosion.

So I moved back inside. You will note that in earlier post I freely admit to my aluminitis induced ADD. It hasn't improved with time. But the inside of the trailer is definitely benefitting. We have shelves and shoe moulding and mirrors and even some artwork. Of course, photos would probably be good to show so you would believe me. But I just realized I don't have them on this computer.

So...pics to follow

And Merry Christmas from the Noltes!

[m.nolte]

Like mother, like daughter...

During a great trip to Canopener 2016 this year my 9 year old daughter got to go in a 'little bitty trailer' during open house. Probably a Bambi or Caravel, I'm not sure, I was talking while she toured. 😉
We have heard so much about the little trailer, hubs has caved and told me to find her one. Lol! I don't think he realizes just how expensive little trailers are. I may tell him, eventually.
To whomever had the little trailer, thank you for making such a good impression on my girl. Airstream folks are the best!


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[RiafromMN]

I am looking at purchasing a 1966 airstream land yatch. All systems work but it needs some serious restoration. The asking price is 8500.00. Does that sound reasonable? Also, the owner is saying both the black and gray waste go into one tank. There is only one hookup place for dumping the tank. Does that sound right?

[m.nolte]

Hi Ria We are in Alabama so I'm not sure what the regional price differences may be but $8500 seems really high unless the trailer has had some restoration. Regarding the black, he is mostly correct. There is only the one black tank. Gray water actually bypasses the tank altogether and comes out downstream of the black valve. It has never been an issue for us. We have a portable gray tank or we stay in a campground with full hookups. Some people add a gray tank during restoration.
Good Luck! Hope you find your case of aluminitus.