>Everyone is talking about polishing. Is it necessary to polish to getrid of
>corrosion?

Paul Anderson and others:

Below are some messages I kept on file from J. Weston regarding your
question and those of others on polishing and plasti coat, dents etc.
They should give you some insight and you could contact Airmark Website
or them directly for more information.

"I Jim Weston shall continue with Free info to those who ask . Listento
this, I have sent out pads to those who have the Cycle Polishers .We
make Soft Pre Washed cotton Buff Pads for that polisher. The Wool pads
they
sale put bad cut circles on the surface. Our Buff pads attach onto
Velcro and can be washed forever. $10.a pair. Our Green OX polish removes
the Oxidations from Aluminum better then any other, our Super Shine30 is
Certed to Boeing D-6, and puts a protected Shine on a Airstream unmatched
to
any other on the market. We polished a B-25 with one Pound . We havethe
new
Micro Seal that has past all our test and is being used by United
Airlines
on their fleet. This sealer protects against Corrosions and Oxidesup to 5
big years !!! and does not need to be applied inside, VERY USER
Friendly .
When I say " From Aviation To You " this is fact not fiction.

===========
Green Ox - Special Formula I developed for USE WITH Drum Polishers!But
no
fear - Green Ox CAN be used with OTHER Power Tools! But my friend......by
hand......VERY, VERY HARD TO DO!!!

Do you have an oscillating sander (Electric)? IF you do, Get yourself
some
THICK - TURKISH Towels (you CAN buy by the yard at larger Fabric Stores.),
cut some pieces to fix sander (wrap around so you can secure). Apply
Green
Ox to surface - SPARINGLY - in a 4' x 4' area. Start cutting procedure,
to
remove oxidation. (I will include - FULL - Step by Step - DETAILED
instructions with the Green Ox). Change toweling often, with each 4'x 4'
area - new towel.

AFTER you finish cutting the surface.

Put on a Fresh Towel on your sander, apply a scant amount of Supershineto
surface. Try to 'dry' wipe it on. (Too much polish will cause you alot
of
TROUBLE!) Work it with the clean towel wrapped sander. NOW - watchthe
shine Pop-UP QUICK!

When you done Polishing the entire trailer with Supershine - Apply the
Polymer Sealer (2 coats is best), and your done!

Met-All WAS a good polish - 30 years ago....NOT! Never and definitely-
NO
More!
I AM surprised that you haven't tried, 'Mothers Aluminum Polish'! Alot
of
Airstreamers have tried it. Please Don't. That's another product tostay
away from - it is Ammonia Based!
==========
>Rust, Rust, Rust!
>
>There are all types of Gels out there that remove rust. Eastwood sellsone
>that is a Primer WITH Stripper.
>
>You need to pull, drop or remove Belly Skins. Just to take a look-seeat
>rust. Look over your axles - really good.
>
>After De-Rusting, go get yourself some Aluminum Paint & a goodbrush.
After
>painting, get yourself some rubber sealer at Home Depo.
>NOTE: Rubber. Put a 1/4 inch wide line down frame - Push skin up against
>it. Drill and install pop rivet (1/8). If the opposite side over laps,
put
>rubber on skin and install skin. Once completed, Rubber Seal ALL Pop
Rivets
>(on underbelly - ONLY!) Use rubber to seal all around old holes also.
>Rubber does NOT eat at aluminum like the Silicone Stuff. Siliconeis NOT
>ANY good on aluminum.
>
>Paint Belly with aluminum paint after washing.
============
To see if your trailer has a, "Clear Coat" on it. - Do the following:

1) Toothpaste on "soft" cotton rag. - Lower panel - towards hitch. Wrap
cloth around 2 fingers - tight. Dampen
rag. Put 2 SMALL drops of toothpaste on it (Note: Tooth "PASTE" - NOT
Gel) rub approx. 10-15 times in about 4" x
4" area applying good pressure (Direction - not important for thislittle
test!) - okay. After this, if the rag is
NOT black & there is NO shine - YOU HAVE CLEAR COAT!!

2) Go to lumber yard - get a can of: "Strip-It" stripper and a 1" Natural
Bristle brush - cheap-o. Mask off 4"
square - lower panel front. Apply to surface with brush, wait 10 minutes.
If stripper starts to bubble or a white
film that looks wrinkled - THAT IS Clear Coat - coming off! Spray bottle
with water - rinse thoroughly -
CAUTION: If you have painted surface below this area - lay tin foilOVER
painted area to protect them from the
stripper - (will remove paint!!) Tin Foil works good - to protect ALL
types of Plastic & painted surfaces!)

3) How does Jim Weston check for Clear Coat? SuperShine polish, Rymple
(Boeing Cert'd Scratchless) cloth.
Apply polish to dampened cloth, rub about 10 times - good pressure.If I
can't see my eyeball in it OR Black
residue fails to appear - You have Clear Coat. Another way I checkis,
use AC-12 Aviation Etching Wash. VERY
DANGEROUS - MUST BE DONE PROFESSIONALLY.

If you DO have a Clear Coat - you MUST determine WHICH type it is. i.e.,
Lacquer, (Lacquer thinner WILL remove)
if Lacquer - a Lacquer stripper MUST be used to remove., Plastic Coator
Poly. Once you have determined WHICH
one you have, contact me and I can get you the stripper via UPS ground-
to you - with instructions and
precautions on HOW to use. We use, WATER DEACTIVATED STRIPPERS! Once
water contacts them - it
IMMEDIATELY STOPS the, "eating" factor & deactivates it and stops,
"sandwich" corrosion.

Once you have done all this work - I do not, will not - promote or
encourage the use or re-application of ANY
TYPE of COATINGS OVER ALUMINUM. Old lesson learned MANY years ago in
Aviation - via - ALCOA (Aluminum
Company of American), American Airlines & Boeing, etc.
FACT: COATINGS PROMOTE - FILIFORM CORROSION (Cancer growth on Metalsfrom
UNDER the Coatings!!)
===================
Since you have SKIN OFF inside, you should be able to remove the dents.
You'll need the following:
First, you need someone to give you a hand - this takes 2 people to
perform!

Sand Bags - 2 each - 6 x 12 =} 1 ea. 12 x 12 inch Aluminum Sheet - .40to
.062 - OR
2 Bags of No. 10/No. 12 Shot - at Firearms Re-load Center.

1 Strong Magnet

One Short - 2 x 6 (12" long)

Go inside Bubble with Magnet. Place it in Center of Dent. Have someone
on
outside, find Center with a 16 Box Nail Head. Once this is found -place
a
Bag 'x' on it. Have your helper place aluminum sheet over dent, place
Sand
bag on Top and apply about 30ft pounds pressure. Place YOUR Sand Bagover
Dent, put 2 x 6 on Center and hit with hammer. A couple of hits should
remove Dent.

A Heating pad - taped on surface for 30 minutes BEFORE, should helpthis
operation.

It's NOT a good idea to use a torch. You can burn the surface and turna
Brown tint into it Permanently, that WILL show Big time - after Polishing!

Scratches - Depends on depth. Do it with Sanding block. It is NOT good
to
use your hand. Get yourself some 400 w/d sand paper and some PURE Spring
Water in a spray bottle. Start sanding Left to Right. DO NOT use
Circular
motions. Remove top of scratch (Red Crayon scratch), work area untilyou
see scratch start to disappear. Then, get some 600 w/d on Block - Leftto
Right again, (Keep WET!). DO NOT let Paper load up. Continue until
scratch is gone. Put some 1000 w/d on Block, go Left to Right again-
until
you see NO Sanding Marks left.

It's ready to Polish now. Get some Supershine and proceed to put a luster
on it that you can Shave in! ;-)"