| Author |
Message |
David & Lorna Schinske (Davidschinske) (65.91.142.31)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, December 27, 2001 - 10:34 am: | |
Any tips and/or warnings on buffing up the aluminum on our Eagle 05? It's not the mirror-finish. At some point in time, someone has lightly painted it with a silver coloured paint. It is a very bad paint job and we think the bus was dirty when it was done (the lumps of dirt that were silver coloured was a clue). David has gotten some acid stuff from the local Huddle House to try on the bus. They use it to clean the aluminum griddles that they cook on. Has any one used this stuff? Will we have a bus there after spraying it on and rinsing off? David says he will test it somewhere inconspicous first. I don't know what the stuff is called, but if it works, or doesn't, I'll let you know.
Lorna |
DrivingMissLazy (65.207.109.179)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, December 27, 2001 - 10:50 am: | |
DO NOT use acid on the bus. The aluminum is anodized and it is not supposed to be really shiny like polished stainless on the MCI and Prevosts. You can not buff and shine the aluminum and if you cut the anodize off with acid you will really have a mess.
I would suggest some paint remover in an inconspicious place first. That may remove the paint without damaging the anodize, but I really do not know for sure.
If the siding was so bad that someone had to paint it, then your only choice may be to re-paint it. That is what I had to do on my 4104 years ago. Others may have some suggestions also.
Richard |
bob k (24.56.194.188)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, December 27, 2001 - 5:56 pm: | |
I used a acid cleaner from the local commercial cleaning supply house and it made a 100% improvement. I used a mild scotchbrite pad to work it in on the really bad spots and hit some places with a buffer and it looked great. The bus is stripped down to the framework right now, but I havent noticed any problems with the areas I worked on.
If the alum was so bad somebody painted it I can't see any reason not to polish it. It will probably need to be acid washed or polished more often if the anodizing is gone.
JMHO |
Ray C (142.165.92.175)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, December 28, 2001 - 12:47 pm: | |
When you do get your panels polished something that has worked well for me in the old car hobby is to clear coat them with a urathane or other high quality finish. You will not have polish again for years. |
Oaepalmer (Oaepalmer) (208.164.96.29)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, December 29, 2001 - 3:19 am: | |
I am assuming you have read the post below that pertains to this very subject with stainless steel.
I will reiterate and expand on my response below.
IF your panels are already surface damaged from paint or light sanding or salt damage...by all means consider the buffing method I described below, it will give you a mirror finish, that IF you then clean with xylene or xylol, you can clear coat, but ...
using the polymer wet coat wax will cost about 5% of a clear coat though....about 7yrs worth of coverage for the same price. |
DrivingMissLazy (65.207.109.111)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, December 29, 2001 - 9:55 am: | |
Davids bus is an Eagle which has anodized alunimum which I do not believe can be buffed to a mirror finish but I am interested in the polymer wet coat wax you mentioned. What exactly is this and would it be good for keepint the anodized alunimum looking good?
Richard |
dharmer1 (24.64.223.203)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, December 30, 2001 - 1:39 am: | |
Hi all, as for polishing the aluminum, i talked to the local chroming shop and they suggested caustic soda which is what they use to dip aluminum parts in before polishing.
This consists of going to your local livestock retailer and picking up a bag of lye and mixing with water to form caustic soda. They dip the parts in their tanks for anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes and then rinse thoroughly and then begin the polishing to bring it to mirror finish.
I have polished through the anodizing and have been very impressed with the results, fair amount of work though. I have not tried the mixed caustic soda solution yet, but hopefully in the next couple of months. If this gets rid of the the annodizing as easily as rumoured, then it will make for easy polishing. The aluminum without the annodizing seems to come up to a shine if ten to fifteen seconds using a red or grey polishing compound.
Hope this helps.
Dave Harmer out in Victoria |
DrivingMissLazy (65.207.109.130)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, December 30, 2001 - 11:01 am: | |
PLEASE let us know how this comes out.
The concern that I would have is the ability to get rid of 100% of the Acid/lye. If the slightest bit remains in the cracks or seams or beneath a loose rivet, it will seep out later beneath the clear coat and ruin the coating.
The reason I say this is that one time I used paint remover to strip a car. I rinsed and rinsed and though I had it all removed. After I painted the car, the remover started seeping from somewhere and ruined the paint job.
Richard |
Glenn Isaacs (Paso) (209.178.164.50)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, December 30, 2001 - 2:53 pm: | |
I think a pressure washer might help for rinsing. |
DrivingMissLazy (65.207.109.128)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, December 30, 2001 - 9:08 pm: | |
And maybe find a neutralizer for the lye. |
David & Lorna Schinske (Davidschinske) (65.91.142.7)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, January 13, 2002 - 6:20 pm: | |
Thanks all. The stuff from the restaurant didn't work. We think we need to get rid of the anodized coating because the aluminum is discoloured below the coating. We aren't looking for a mirror finish, we just want it to look decent. Will copy all responses and take back to North Carolina (Yep, the bus is still there..David's back went out due to wreck just before Christmas so I'm working for him!) Have been think of trying the orange based paint remover, bought some but has been to cold to use. If that doesn't work will probable try everything else.
Thanks guys
Lorna |
Merle Kauffman (64.65.226.16)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, January 16, 2002 - 12:28 am: | |
I used Blue Lustre a paste form,
with a high speed buffer,don't use too
sparingly,
works for me.
Merle (can be bought at auto
supply stores) |
Oaepalmer (Oaepalmer) (208.164.96.21)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, January 16, 2002 - 5:09 pm: | |
I am goin to step back in on this post...
Keep in mind that you will HAVE to maintain the exterior of your coach no matter what AND that the exterior finish this coach had when new is long gone.
Polishes cost a fair amount when you consider the hundreds of square feet of surface you will have to work. If you have to spend 10bux for every 10 sq.ft. of surface, you are throwing you time and money away.
At profesional BODY SUPPLY and AUTO SUPPLY stores you will find ScotchBrite pads made to fit on a BENCH GRINDER 6-8 inches in diameter....they come in 3-4 grades of cutting ability from buff to very abrasive.
Mounting several of these pads on a motor will allow you to buff down the length of the coaches panels (horizontal).
NEVER BUFF aluminum in a SWIRL or VERTICAL pattern, every variation in pressure or direction will STAND OUT like a sore thumb!!
The human eye does not pick up these same variations in horiz. lines.
You will not need ANY other compounds, just water to rinse it off with!
It will cost you less than $40 for the pads to do the entire coach with.
Just don't forget to protect your finish after you've polished it.
Sealing it with a clear coat is great IF you do it in a LOW humidity environment....the last thing you want is to see you work wasted when the Aluminum turns WHITE under the clearcoat due to moisture.
Using a hard carnuba wax with a body buffer to buff it up with will NOT leave swirl marks, and the application will last the entire year.
Doing a poor job on the second attempt to make this coach look better will leave it looking no better off than is does now. |