Two types of aluminum on the outside?

[Jhiner1978]

I did a little test polish of the outside of my AS and it seems like the top half part of the AS is a different aluminum quality or just needs polished more. Is this typical?

[davejay]

Hey,
You know ,my 325 seems to have differant kinds of aluminum too. I m thinking, maybe the pieces that are curved are stretched a bit. Could they have been heated to make the prosess easier, I don t know. It also seems like the sides seem to have a smoother aluminum, whereas the ends and the curved areas look like they re a brushed appearance. They defitetly polish differently. The polishing is not going to be fun. And how do you keep it shines once done. I m not going to clear coat it . So wax? Anyone ?

[Nuvite-F]

Originally Posted by Jhiner1978

I did a little test polish of the outside of my AS and it seems like the top half part of the AS is a different aluminum quality or just needs polished more. Is this typical?

Welcome to the world of Airstream polishing! There are variations in aluminum depending on the original sheet and how it was formed. It is not uncommon to see differences in behavior from one panel to the next. The compound curved panels in the end shells often show differences because the metal is stretched during forming.

It may take several passes to get one panel to polish up as nicely as a panel next to it that only took a few.

[Jhiner1978]

Originally Posted by Nuvite-F

Welcome to the world of Airstream polishing! There are variations in aluminum depending on the original sheet and how it was formed. It is not uncommon to see differences in behavior from one panel to the next. The compound curved panels in the end shells often show differences because the metal is stretched during forming.

It may take several passes to get one panel to polish up as nicely as a panel next to it that only took a few.

It's just weird because it's like that all the way around. Top half is one look and the bottom half is smoother and shinier

[Lingtodt]

We experienced the same thing. Since we had two grades of Nuvite on hand, I suggested the wife try the finer grade, and..... it worked much better. As you go through the Nuvite grades, each has a different job to do, so if the coarser one doesn't work, it may not need that grade.

[Jacob D]

Harkening back to my old metallurgy classes many years ago, I am not surprised there are slight surface reflectance differences in the panels on an Airstream. Metals to be formed into shapes such as the compound curved segments on the upper and lower corners of an Airstream are often made of a slightly different alloy to enhance the plasticity of the metal being formed. The term plasticity refers to the permanent deformation that results in the final shape without cracks, variations in thickness or surface checking during deformation. you might say that plasticity of metal is the opposite of brittleness. The clear coat finish or polishing would hide that very slight difference if my supposition is correct but stripping would probably show it.