Opinions wanted on Polishing

[C Johnson]

OK ok , I know I opened a can O worms here. I can't seem to find any real info relating to filiform corrision on the roof. I have done two passes with Nuvite F-7 on the rear panels. They look good, I can see myself in them clear as day. However, I have these fine lines of corrision everywhere on the roof down to about the top of the windows, in some places a little lower. I also have some pretty deep scratches on there too from who knows what.

My question is should I just leave things as they are ? or get more aggresive with it ? I guess I could learn to live with it given the amount of work I envision in getting these scratches and bits of corrision off.

Part 2, The old WB #'s were on there soo long that they actually corroded the aluminum under them along with some other long gone sticker that was up there. Parts of it look deep enough that it may have actually gone beyond the alclad layer. Especially behind the Airstream nameplate. I have some pics posted in my 2k5 thread. It was too late tonight, when I got home from work, to take any worthwhile pics of the area I am talking about.

What I am trying to decide is what to do next ?

Go over the whole trailer once with F-7, C, then S and just live with it or try another approach such as, gasp, emory cloth and then polish.

I do still have a good amount of clearcoat from about the windows down. Under that the aluminum looks just fine and polishes up just fine and easily !

all comments welcome !

[CaddyGrn]

Chris,

Well, I know nothing about polishing... other than it sounds like a whole lot of work! You should be out camping... what's up with the work? [You do realize that work is a 4 letter word don't you?]

Hope you find your answer! Then when we get to that place we will know who to go to for the advice!

Claudia
aka: Mrs. NorCal Bambi (traveling in S Tardis)

[uwe]

If the roof comes out nice and shiny, move on. The corrosion won't be visible from ground level. ( Unless you're 9 feet tall). My roof would not polish nicely at all, it has millions of corrosion pits in it. It still looks great from ground level because of the viewing angle, and it reflects the sky beautifully.
You can spend more time and polish out everything, it will eventually come out, but it takes literally forever.
Same for the letters and sticker areas. Keep making passes over them, the ghosts will eventually all but disappear. It does take time and patience.
The wet sanding method works, but I was unable to get the same shine on the same panel as on the are next to it that was not sanded. It remained somewhat duller than the other panels. I sanded the front lower segments, they were rock pitted severely. I found that a very good buffer with electronic speed control ( speed stays the same no matter how hard or easy you push) makes problem areas a lot easier to deal with, and is much more predictable in those instances.

[scottanlily]

Hello uwe , I have a question on my 60 trdwnd ,where as even with the brilliant shine ,there are brownish type holographic looking haze seemingly under the shine .you can see it in the sun .It shines up real nice ,but as you have said ,some areas can be great if your there forever ,it is a tremendouse
amount of work .so anyway ,about that haze ,I have read about others having such a holographic type haze ,almost as if you need to go real deep
and I wont ,to get that out.Im using f7 ,c and s .the skin pretty was pretty
ahiny when I bought it.I will say that Im not going for the trophy shine as
the work involved is just to much.

Scott

[Ken J]

I use Rollite sealer - it softens the shine a bit and I think it gets rid of that hologram look.

Ken J.

[uwe]

Originally Posted by scottanlily

Hello uwe , I have a question on my 60 trdwnd ,where as even with the brilliant shine ,there are brownish type holographic looking haze seemingly under the shine .you can see it in the sun .It shines up real nice ,but as you have said ,some areas can be great if your there forever ,it is a tremendouse
amount of work .so anyway ,about that haze ,I have read about others having such a holographic type haze ,almost as if you need to go real deep
and I wont ,to get that out.Im using f7 ,c and s .the skin pretty was pretty
ahiny when I bought it.I will say that Im not going for the trophy shine as
the work involved is just to much.

Scott

Scott,
My experience with polishing is very limited at this point, I am still trying out different techniques and approaches. I am sorry to say that I might steer you in the wrong direction with a recommendation to get rid of the haze. I got the thing to shine somehow, but it is far from perfect as of now.
I'll gladly share my findings once they provide results. Gimme 200 more hours.....

[scottanlily]

uwe,
Yeah you said it ,at least 200 . I am no expert on polishing either as I have
been following the perfect polish examples and others thoughts and ideas .
Anyway Im pretty happy with it but I can see it getting out of control if I don't put a limit on how good i want it to be.

Scott

[C Johnson]

I took some pictures of what I am talking about today.

The first one is the filiform corrision that is all over my roof. This has been polished twice with F-7.



This one is of the corrosion under the old numbers. This has been wet sanded with emory once and polished twice with F-7.



This one is of the corrision under the other sticker that was there once upon a time. This has been wet sanded with emory three times, then polished twice with F-7.



This one is a good example of some of the scratches that I have.



This one is of the corrision that is under the Airstream name plate. This also has been wet sanded with emory three times, then polished twice with F-7.



I think I may take Uwe's advice and just leave it alone for now. Otherwise I may be at this one spot the rest of the summer.

[Safari Tim]

Filform corrision is terrible stuff. Very hard.

The first picture shows my corrosion after removing the clearcoat. It took over 10 passes of F7 to get it acceptable to me.

Just be sure to go over very very slowly with the compounder like 1 in/second. As you make multiple passes go up/down, left/right, etc...

As for the scratches you'll have to live with them if you don't want to start replacing panels. You can hit them hard with G6 and round them out a little, but it will also cause your more work to repair the damage G6 will do.

As Uwe pointed out, sanded areas do not get the same shine as non-sanded so I vote for not sanding at all.

Don't forget to check out episode 20 of theVAP. Lots of good info on polishing.

[C Johnson]

Hi Tim, The scratches that are pictured are on the curved end panels. So replacement, at least for me, is outta the question. I think that I will go over the whole trailer once and see what I end up with. If it is all one shade I think I'll be happy for now while I decide if I want to take things farther. What you have pictured is far worse than mine. the sides of mine are in really good shape.

Uwe is right, once I stand back I can't see the pits at all. They are on the roof after all.

Still welcoming any other opinions here.

I tried clicking my heels together three times, didn't work .

[Becky B.]

I just did the roof on my polish job. It is full of scratches and such. Now it's shiny, but still full of scratches & stuff and it's going to stay that way. I agree with uwe--don't worry about it--only a giant will see it anyhow! I did a thread called "how picky are you when you polish?" and a lot of people responded to that by saying they are only picky where people can see it!

[Bradjun1]

I have polished a trailer that had been left outside without clearcoat for several years. The filiform was terrible. I went to several passes of F-9 then G-6 then C then S. The compounding was where all the work is but your effort will show after you cyclo. I would never-never use sandpaper or emery cloth because even F-9 won't remove the scratches. Go to Bradjun1 photos and see the results. Or just look at my avatar.Good Luck and stay patient. The shine will come.

[Bradjun1]

Thought I would add these pics to the above post

[Bradjun1]

One final thought. Have you thought about painting your roof white like the new trailers are. It can save a ton of polishing. I painted the top of the roof white( from the top of the curved segments) with Interlux Briteside marine paint. The color is dayglow white.Noone sees it and it keep the trailer cooler.

[wivell]

Originally Posted by Bradjun1

Thought I would add these pics to the above post

That is nice.

Any photos of the painted areas you mentioned?

[scottanlily]

Hello C Johnson,

I can tell you you will be there forever and not get the deep corrosion pitting
removed ,cannot be done ,it is way to deep ,the alclad only goes so deep.
Those type of problems you just need to walk away from ,get it as good as you can ,then move on .I have road rash on the front lower sections of my
60 trdwnd and no need to try to remove them or compound them out.I will
get the polish as nice as I feel I am happy with ,or rather accept .I would like to address the brownish holographic haze as I had posted to uwe,but Ibelieve
it is deep in the aluminum as the f7 and c both bring out a brilliant shine,
yet that haze remains ,possibly forever as I don't think I will go with the
heavier cut compounds .Its a decision there to make to either go on forever
or to get it so your satisfied .It will look great ,we all are our own worst critics you know.

Scott of scottanlily

[C Johnson]

Thanks Scott, I agree. When I step back a few feet I can't see the pits. my concern with the severe corrision under the nameplate was more about not letting it go any farther. I don't think I will seal the nameplate to the body, just let the water run under it and off the trailer. The other corrision areas are as good as they are going to get unless I replace the curved panels...$$$... I have given some thought to painting my roof section white like Bradjun1 mentioned.

It's funny, you know I am a perfectionist by nature and the more I did the more I wanted it perfect ! I had to step back, read the forums and make a decision about what I can live with. I threw my back out this month so the less time I spend on it the better. I'll have more polishing progress pics posted here in a few weeks but, I am going camping this weekend with a partially polished trailer.

[scottanlily]

Yep Chris ,I know what you mean and thats the rub ,I want it perfect and
I knew when I got into the polishing I would be wanting perfection also ,but alas while striving for that elusive thing ,reality struck and some downer
moments ,it can get you! then ,well you realize that maybe you can be
pleased with it ,and you feel better .More of the trailer gets done and you
can enjoy it .

Scott

[Goin camping]

Looks great from here. So go campimg and enjoy the trailer.