Re: Can My Trailer Be Polished?

[ Follow Ups ] [ Streamline Message Board ]

Posted by Tom Patterson on January 10, 2001 at 04:19:26:

In Reply to: Re: Can My Trailer Be Polished? posted by Doug on January 8, 2001 at 17:18:58:

Doug,
You should be able to look at it and tell. If it is shiny, it will have a bright appearance. If anodized, it will have a grey finish. Take a look at the pictures of James Thompson's Streamline that I just put up on the site. He has an anodized finish on his trailer. It cannot be polished. It can be given a shine by applying something like WD-40 to the surface, but this is temporary, and somewhat of a dust magnet.
The bright finish trailers were originally protected by a layer of clear coat, which by now is mostly breaking down. In order to polish them, it is necessary to first remove the clear coat, and then it is possible to shine them up to a mirror finish. Unfortunately, they are no longer protected by the clear coat finish, and the unprotected aluminum then starts to oxidize right away, eventually developing a protective thin grey layer of oxidization, which prevents further oxidization. In order to maintain the shine, it is necessary to continually repolish the trailer, every several years.

Follow Ups:



HWForums.com Message Forums
Copyright © 2001 HighWired Internet Innovations Inc. All rights reserved.