I am certainly not advocating the use of ANY plasticoat!!! In my humble
opinion, and Humble, it is, I say, Strip it, Trash it,(the plasticoat)
then Polish it !!!!! The four airstreams that I have polished, remain
BARE, without any Plasticote. The downside is they do need a re-polish
after 2 or 3 years, depending on the severity of the atmospheric conditions.
Sun , wind , rain, Birds, hydrocarbons, Salt, and Jalepenos. I agree with
Jim Weston about Aluminum bodies. They are light, they are fragile, and
they are not easy to straighten. Actually, very few auto bodies were made
of aluminum because of the reasons we have already discussed. MY Ferrari,
1966 275 GTB (Berlinetta) had a steel body. All
other Ferraris had steel bodies , except the very special one off custom
mades for Kings and playboys. Many of their racing models are all aluminum,
but that is a thin skin only there for aerodynamic purposes.
Some very expensive custom coaches had hand made aluminum bodies, but
very few. Some European sports cars had aluminum bonnets and trunk lids
but thats all. If you have an Aluminum bodied automobile, it should be
in a museum. That range rover had a alloy tougher than aluminum. When
sharply bent, Aluminum sheet instantly hardens in that area. Sharp
bends produce noticeable hardening. Sometimes major dents cause stretching
of the metal. Trying to pound it back into shape is futile. The metal is
too hard to bend easily, and besides there is no place to put the extra
metal. Leave the Aluminum body work to expert craftsman like Airmark who
can cut , pound, plannish, and English wheel the aluminum into complex
and compound curves. Aircraft mechanics designed and built the
very first airstreams, thats why many are still on the road. End of
Lecture.
That Ferrari, by the way , had a 3 liter V12 with 6 two barrel Weber carbs and it would supposedly go 166 MPH. I had it up to 148 one time on the Autostrada del Sole, when my wife began to protest. There was about one inch remaining before the accelerator hit the floor. At 7,000 RPM, there is no sweeter sound than a Ferrari V12. I bought it from a Contessa in Padova, but thats another story.
Bill Scott
" What seems to be the problem, Officer"???