Looking at a 1973 Sovereign

[redproton88]

Greetings,

I am looking at buying a 1973 Sovereign 30Ft. From the pics, it looks in pretty good shape and the owner is asking $3500.

I was wondering can this model be polished to a nice shine. I had heard some of the post 1968 Airstreams don't "shine up" well.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[featherbedder]

Yes it can be polished to high shine, 30 ft. lots of work, if not badly pealed why polish? I personaly do not like high shine. If roof looks bad paint white form awning rail to awning rail and top seam of end caps, it will keep inside a lot cooler. AS does this now & lot of owners in 60s did this.There are lots posted on forums about prep, paints, primers etc. I want to do mine but a little lazy at this time.

[dbj216]

Yep, it will very likely polish nicely. I suspect it is built with 2024 T3 Alclad aluminum. However Airstream was experimenting with cheaper alloys by then. But the older vintage aluminum skins seem to polish very well.

You are looking at a PROJECT trailer. At $3500 this big old Airstream will need most everything. It is worth that much if the exterior aluminum is in pretty good condition. Polishing is usually the last step in renovations, Figure on LOTS of hours and dollars to get the thing travel ready again. It's interesting work. And the value of the trailer could go up many multiples of $3500. Gee, polishing alone is about 350 hours and $500. It ain't easy work.

David

[Belegedhel]

My '73 is made of 6061 T6, as confirmed by the factory. I have test polished a few spots where I was placing lights or lettering, and it shines up pretty nice. Maybe if you put it next to a piece of mirror polished 2024 T3 Alclad, you would see a difference, but I try to avoid that.