[VAL] Aluminum tanks - polished?

[Terrence Tyler <tylerbears@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Steve,

By all means buy the aluminum tanks, either privately or through a 
reseller like Airstream Dreams.

Shining them up is easy to do with a paste called Mothers aluminum 
polish. It comes in a small red and white container (1/2 pint for $5) 
but the stuff goes a long, long ways. There are other products but this 
one is readily available for getting started.

In my opinion, polished aluminum bottles make a subtle statement about 
pride in ownership toward an otherwise ordinary looking Airstream.

For nearly ten years, our ordinary looking '67 22' Safari underwent 
numerous improvements. During those years, all I did was keep the 
exterior clean and the aluminum bottles polished. I didn't want our rig 
to stand out, but I did want modern equipment for propane distribution.

Last year, when refurbishing was finally completed, I went whole hog 
with polishing the entire exterior. It turned out to be a more dramatic 
difference than we anticipated, especially with our 17' mirror shined 
aluminum canoe on top of our restored 1975 Mercury Station Wagon tow 
vehicle.

At first we didn't know what to do with all the attention, but it has 
grown on us. The question most often asked by the general public is 
"Where can we find an old Airstream to restore?" That's an easy 
question to answer. But, it's during the ensuing conversation that we 
share the excitement and satisfaction we feel for bringing one of these 
beauties back from oblivion.

Everyone is different, even at different times during the camping 
season. Sometimes we want to fade into the woodwork. On those 
occasions, we use one of our other ordinary looking Airstreams (with 
the shiny aluminum bottles). We're still kids at heart when it comes to 
playing with our toys.


Terry

'67 22' Safari
'63 22' Flying Cloud
'89 32' Excella