Polishing AS in Winter

[Aluminati]

I know this sounds crazy but I would like to polish my AS. It will be under an overhang...so...what is the best weather to polish in.

[Royce]

I would say any season that is not camping season. In my limited experence, any weather that you can tollerate and is not too hot on the surface. Cool is more pleasant and works just fine. It can get too cold for my fingers to work much below 45F however.

[Aluminati]

Originally Posted by Royce

I would say any season that is not camping season. In my limited experence, any weather that you can tollerate and is not too hot on the surface. Cool is more pleasant and works just fine. It can get too cold for my fingers to work much below 45F however.

But there is not an issue with it being to cold for the compound or polish to work...correct? I also have to strip the clear coat off of it. I would have to say that I am impressed that still has the original clear coat on it....its not even peeling to give me a head start

[jkcru]

IMHO if the clearcoat is in tact, save yourself a lot of grief and leave it alone.

[Aluminati]

Originally Posted by jkcru

IMHO if the clearcoat is in tact, save yourself a lot of grief and leave it alone.

I wish I could...but I cant...something inside wont let me

[Royce]

Originally Posted by jkcru

IMHO if the clearcoat is in tact, save yourself a lot of grief and leave it alone.

Amen! if the clearcoat is fine wait until it is not, to polish, and enjoy the coach as is. If you insist on polishing then here are two sites to get you started. Also check out the search function on this forum, lots of good info.

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Polishing

[Zeppelinium]

Originally Posted by Aluminati

But there is not an issue with it being to cold for the compound or polish to work...correct? ...

No, I don't think that's correct. When it's too hot the compound "dries" out too fast and you don't get good polishing action. When it's too cold I suspect the viscosity of the compound is too high and it would act just like it was dry--high drag on the polisher and not much polishing action. This would be dependent on skin temperature, so if you're polishing like a tornado, maybe it would be warm enough.

I think of this stuff like using a wet whetstone--works a lot differently than a dry one. So too hot means very short polishing time per dab, too cold means like using cold molasses.

Give it a shot and let us know if it really can be too cold.

Zep

[jkcru]

If you must then good luck and best wishes.

[Boondocker]

Originally Posted by Aluminati

I also have to strip the clear coat off of it.

My experience on removing the clear coat from my trailer was that temperature mattered. It needed to be warm for the remove all to work, although I suspect that lower temperature can be offset by letting the remove stay on longer. The limiting factor there would be you don't want to let the remove all dry out. Not sure how the compounding would turn out. Let us know how it turns out.

[Melody Ranch]

The stripper will not work effectively at all. It will work some....but slow and partially. I think the instructions on the label even say so and give temp limits. The polish part should go O.K.
P.S. I hate working in the cold.

[nunya001]

I'm in the finishing stages of a mirror polish on my '69 31' - it is a massive amount of work, but well worth it. the stripper works in relatively cold weather and the Nuvite compounds do as well. What I have found though is that if you dab the compounds on you are standing a much higher liklihood of spinning it right off, I have found that if you apply by hand rubbing and follow up with grinder/polisher the results are much better. I know it sounds rediculous to massage compound, but it works, particularly on edges and tight spots

[Ken J]

In my experience, polishes do not work well much under 65 degrees

Ken J.

[Safari Tim]

I agree with Ken.

You have about a 15 degree window. At close to 60 degrees the polishing turns to a powder and does not work.

Closer to 80 degrees it just smears and is equally useless.

Ideal is 65 - 75 degrees. If you have shade you may be able to push the upper end some.

[Aluminati]

Originally Posted by Safari Tim

I agree with Ken.

You have about a 15 degree window. At close to 60 degrees the polishing turns to a powder and does not work.

Closer to 80 degrees it just smears and is equally useless.

Ideal is 65 - 75 degrees. If you have shade you may be able to push the upper end some.

O.K...I guess I will wait until spring because I will be working outside and I dont want to screw anything up.

Thanks to all who have replied

[53flyingcloud]

Originally Posted by Safari Tim

I agree with Ken.

You have about a 15 degree window. At close to 60 degrees the polishing turns to a powder and does not work.

Closer to 80 degrees it just smears and is equally useless.

Ideal is 65 - 75 degrees. If you have shade you may be able to push the upper end some.

Safari Tim,
Thanks for catching that..As usual, you're "spot" on~!!
Anything below 60 degrees is just wasting of your time..Been there and, "tried" to do it...
53FC..