Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

by **prohandyman** » Thu Sep 01, 2011 5:45 am

Mike your right...I have used spray adhesive and even duct tape in the past, but this tape holds well and is cheaper, and thinner.

by **mvperini** » Thu Sep 01, 2011 8:41 am

I use this tape a lot at work, we use Liquid Nitrogen in our test equipment, the temp that we test at -55c to 150c, so i figued it would hold the insulation on a trailer. :lol:

Mike

by **prohandyman** » Thu Sep 01, 2011 7:13 pm

Went to the hardware looking for a can of elbow grease, but had to settle for a case of tired hands!

by **48Rob** » Thu Sep 01, 2011 7:16 pm

The effort paid off! :thumbsup:

Rob

by **aggie79** » Fri Sep 02, 2011 8:22 am

Dan,

The polished sides and windows look fantastic! :applause:

Have you described, on the forum, your method on how to polish aluminum? I there would be a lot of us interested in how you do such an incredible job!

Take care,
Tom

by **prohandyman** » Fri Sep 02, 2011 1:56 pm

Tom
I do not have a method that does not involve ALOT of hard work, but here goes.
I first scuff the surface with #2 steel wool. This removes most of the surface debris, heavy oxidation, etc. I have tried motorized wire brushes and wheels but this Really scratches too much. Then follow that up with green Scotch brite pads, which removes the scratches the steel wool left. Once again, by hand. Somewhere someone probably has scotch brite pads for a buffer.
Then, I use a variable speed buffer, with Dupont Heavy duty buffing compound.
This is made for paint but it works really well on aluminum.
By the way...did I mention to do this outside, with old clothes or Tyvek suit and old shoes, gloves, far away from anything that you do not want compound on???
I then use Nuvite metal polish, grade C as a finish. You can move on to Grade A and then S if you want, which are finer, which transforms the metal into a mirror.
Maybe not the best system but it works for me. You WILL BE BLACK from the polish residue from head to foot. Or maybe I am just sloppy!
If you are married, remove all clothes and shoes before entering the house, or you won't be married for long!
Several people have suggested Gord's metal polish but I have not tried it.

by **prohandyman** » Fri Sep 02, 2011 2:02 pm

Oh I should note...I did NOT polish the sides of this camper. I cheated and bought new Bright anodized aluminum with the creases. A rather expensive option but buffing and polishing takes alot of time and effort. And, because it is anodized it should never require buffing down the road.

by **aggie79** » Sun Sep 04, 2011 7:36 pm

Dan,

Thank you for the tutorial. It does sound like a tremendous amount of work.

I am using the anodized aluminum on my teardrop. I love the look but don't like the maintenance of polishing. I have been thinking about polishing the mill aluminum but not sure if I'm going to expend the effort.

Take care,
Tom

by **prohandyman** » Mon Sep 05, 2011 4:08 pm

Tom
Bright anodized is what this aluminum is, then creased.
Here is a pic of my '60 Scotty that I polished from a very oxidized finish...alot of work but worth it.

by **prohandyman** » Thu Sep 29, 2011 2:41 pm

Well drug the Yukon out in the sun today. Taking it to Newport Hill climb tomorrow. Whew...alot of work...I think I will stay with teardrops and Tiny-er
travel trailers.

by **Verna** » Thu Sep 29, 2011 6:21 pm

Pretty!!!! With that shine, you're going to be blinding people driving near you on the road, Dan!!!

Verna

by **Prem** » Tue Oct 04, 2011 10:29 am

Fabulous restoration Dan! :thumbsup:

You do very good work.

Prem

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