Wally's gold Airstream - whatever happened to it?

[sigv]

Just read the latest Airstream Life cover to cover and there were a few pictures of Wally's gold Airstream.

Anyone know what happened to this? Also - how did it get cold (was it Aluminum?)

[wkerfoot]

Originally Posted by sigv

Just read the latest Airstream Life cover to cover and there were a few pictures of Wally's gold Airstream.

Anyone know what happened to this? Also - how did it get cold (was it Aluminum?)

The trailer is at the factory in Jackson Center, OH.

Bill

[2airishuman]

sigv
the gold trailer is sittin' outside the factory.....and available sometimes to look inside while on the tours....

it's anodized aluminum....a process that hardens the surface layer....this was a big deal back 'in the day' but now anodization is done in a rainbow of colors....

cheers
2air'

[sigv]

Thanks for the reply - I would love to get a tour of the factory!

[AgZep]

Believe it or not, you can actually anodize stuff at home now. it's not even particularly difficult, and a lot of wild options are possible.

I have an old URL for a site that explains it, but I can't get it to come up. Perhaps it's down over the weekend. If I get it to work again, I'll post it here under this thread.

[AgZep]

Thw title above is the site I was thinking of. Looks fun to me. I don't see how it would work for trailer skins, but other aluminum parts would be fine.

[basecamp]

Could someone post a pic, I was at JC on Dec 28, camped at the Terraport overnight. I saw some older trailers there for repair but did not see a goldie oldie. Thanks.

[denellen]

I've seen Wally's "gold" A.S.,and the finish looks more like irridite than anodize to me. I would'nt expect anodize to fade in the uneven way this has. It was also quite common to apply irridite ( a mil spec requirement ) as a protectent for aluminum, and it was easy to apply as a dip, spray, or even brush on.
The trailer may have been fairly attractive for awhile, but it did'nt age well. My opinion.
Dennis

[overlander63]

I found this photo on the Airstream List:

[SafeHarbor]

How about yellow zinc-chromate?

Lamar

[2airishuman]

hi denellen, safe harbor and others.....

my reference to the gold stella belle (great pic btw) being anodized is from don the tour master at the factory. pretty sure he said anodized........but he could have said pasteurized too....

agree it hasn't aged well from a looks perspective, otoh it hasn't been polished or the finish changed for many moons.....ever. i do think water run off, acid rain, ozone, uv light, and so on can bleach out anodization since the coloring is somewhat secondary to the hardening process itself.

i have bike parts that were anodized to very dark colors and in just 10 years have turned much lighter in sun exposed areas.

avion also used some golden alum panels for contrast....anyone know how these panels were made.....they have more gloss/shine.

cheers
2air'

[SafeHarbor]

Hi, 2air,

Might he have said "alodined?" Anodizing requires passing a current through the structure, usually, I think, with the structure submerged in the solution.
Several coatings of alodine can get the surface quite colored, and can be sprayed or painted on.

As late as the mid-eighties, even with the advent of the two-part paints like Emron, the standard procedure for prepping small airplanes for painting was alumiprep, then alodine, then zinc-chromate (usually green, but the military did have some ugly applications for yellow).

I've been slowly stripping my Argosy over the last several years . . . by washing it a couple of times a year. The paint flecks that fall off don't make me think that the Argosy had any undercoating on it at all, even if it is Emron.

Lamar

[wahoonc]

Originally Posted by 2airishuman

hi denellen, safe harbor and others.....

my reference to the gold stella belle (great pic btw) being anodized is from don the tour master at the factory. pretty sure he said anodized........but he could have said pasteurized too....

agree it hasn't aged well from a looks perspective, otoh it hasn't been polished or the finish changed for many moons.....ever. i do think water run off, acid rain, ozone, uv light, and so on can bleach out anodization since the coloring is somewhat secondary to the hardening process itself.

i have bike parts that were anodized to very dark colors and in just 10 years have turned much lighter in sun exposed areas.

avion also used some golden alum panels for contrast....anyone know how these panels were made.....they have more gloss/shine.

cheers
2air'

We have "issues" all the time with anodized architectural metals. Architects love the concept but usually the execution sux. It is difficult if not impossible to get consistent color on large panels using anodization. It was orginally intended for smaller parts, where slight color variations wouldn't be as noticable.

Aaron

[cosmotini]

Here are a couple pic's taken a little over a month ago (Dec. 05).

There were 5 trailers on display in the parking lot in front of the factory service center.

The anodizing, or whatever it is .. seems to have faded quite a bit.

Dennis

[2airishuman]

safe harbor and others

it possible don said alodined, irridized, vulcanized, homogenized or any word ending in ized....and i translated into annodized....

i agree the imron didn't or doesn't have an under coating. 17 years ago i had my moho stripped and repainted with imron paint. i was living in seattle and the guy who did the work also painted jets for boeing.....it has held up well except on the steel endcaps. as i recall watching part of the work.....there was a chemical treatment before the pigmented layers...to help with bonding to the aluminum....and the imron paints are flexible, a good thing on big sheets of skin....

stella..........
as cosmos' pictures show, it is pretty scarred looking now.....up close the surface has an etched/scuffed appearance without any pattern to suggest it was machined......looked like an acid etching.... and the section under the curbside window was in so better color shape, to suggest that ohio rain had leached much of the color, but even the bleached areas have this etched look....

so cosmotini.....

was the terra port open? were folks camped there in freezing weather?

wahoonc......
i agree anodizing is better in theory than application...
my limited understanding suggests the process also changes some of the physical characteristics of the surface layer....like heat transfer, plasticity and so on.

here's to shinny silver aluminum over gold 'tones anytime...

2air'

[cosmotini]

Originally Posted by 2airishuman

so cosmotini.....

was the terra port open? were folks camped there in freezing weather?

2air'

Yes, it was open and people were staying there. The snow was from December 5th.

I'm sure it was below freezing at night but the daytime temps weren't that bad.

Passed up the factory tour because of the weather. More snow was in the forcast later in the day. I beat it home but we got about 6" the following day.

I guess I'll have to go back to JC just for the tour.

Dennis

[crazylev]

I still can't believe that this trailer isn't in a museum or at least indoors out of the elements. This bit of history is going to disapear if it is not looked after.

Hey. how about a museaum of RV's. I think there is one already, but can't remember where.

Jonathan

[3Ms75Argosy]

Originally Posted by SafeHarbor

Hi, 2air,


I've been slowly stripping my Argosy over the last several years . . . by washing it a couple of times a year. The paint flecks that fall off don't make me think that the Argosy had any undercoating on it at all, even if it is Emron.

Lamar

Heh Heh - I know what you mean. I stripped our Argosy - funny, the aluminum just shed the paint, no problemo. The steel, which actually looked the worse (peeling paint, rust, etc) on the endcaps, is STILL giving me fits. It had a greenish undercoat that is holding on for dear life. It's finally almost all gone.
Marc

[Cedars]

Originally Posted by crazylev

Hey. how about a museaum of RV's. I think there is one already, but can't remember where.

Museum is in Mishiwaka, Indiana. In fact, they are breaking ground on a much larger building to house thier exhibits.

Elizabeth in Iowa

[mytehawk]

It looks like there are no jack stands under those trailers. That's not very good.