Oxidized Aluminum exterior

[Airstreammam]

Howdy! I am a new member so I am sorry if this does not make sense. I have a 1976 Airstream that I am having restored. The company working on it is stumped as to what to do with the oxidezed exterior. We were going to acid wash it, but after reading some of your comments about leakage we won't do this. So, what do we do? Help!

[thenewkid64]

Welcome to the forum!

There are many threads here on what can be done. Your 76 came with what is referred to as plasticoat. This is the stuff that is peeling off and is milky white. The first step would be to strip it off and see how the raw aluminum looks. Aircraft stripper seems to be a favorite chemical stripper. If the raw aluminum looks good you could re-plasticoat it and be set for a few years. The peeling plasticoat normally leaves behind a residue that looks really bad. Or once it is stripped it can be polished.

Run a search on polishing and you will see many examples of what can be done.

You are in the right place, so get a big cup o joe, and have fun reading!