cleaning and protecting aluminum skin

[Razorback]

I am so glad this was brought up again. It reminded me that last year I obtained a FREE gallon of Aluminox.

https://orisonmarketing.com/aluminox.html

I have not had a lot of time to check it out, but I WILL get it done soon and see how it does on my Avion. I told those people that I would be happy to report results in this forum.

You have a chance to try this?

Next on my list..... finally got the garden in (most of it, anyway) the last couple of days.....

If I just didn’t have to work for a living, I could get soooo much stuff done!

[KYAvion]

I know...work sure does get in the way of getting projects done.

Nice tractors BTW. I’ve got a Gravely 816 with twin cylinder Onan I’m redoing the engine on.

[Razorback]

Nice!!! I have never had or been around a Gravely, but I know they are real tanks and very capable. My dad had a mid-70's Sears SS16 with a twin Onan..... great machine!

I LOVE these old garden tractors. The Wheel Horse is a 1974 C-160, the Cub Cadet is a 1966 model 123. In the shed is a 1981 Speedex 1631 and a 2009 Craftsman PGT-9000.

[Salty]

[/quote]

Next on my list..... finally got the garden in (most of it, anyway) the last couple of days.....

If I just didn’t have to work for a living, I could get soooo much stuff done!
[/quote]

Amen brother

[RoseHippie]

Hey, I bought a 1986 25' Avion a while back and have been working on doing a full restoration on the trailer. One of the things I still need to do is clean the exterior skin of the trailer. Before I bought it, it had been spray painted on and pretty badly treated. I scraped the spray paint off, but I'm still left with shadows of the spray paint on the skin due to the aluminum under the paint not oxidizing. I called Chuck Cayo a few days ago to ask about a few things including what to do about this, and he recommended me to use a marine aluminum cleaner and brightener. Most brands I have looked at don't recommend using their product on anodized aluminum. Does anybody have any brands they would recommend, and should I use some kind of polish or wax to protect the aluminum afterwards? I'll leave a few photos below to show state of the aluminum skin. (Sorry the photos are sideways, I can't figure out how to make them vertical)

[DJ18]

wow! scraping paint of must have been a whole lot of work!! did you use any kind of paint remover on it? If it was spray paint, it would be solvent based, I think. I don't think they make paint in latex. I can't tell from the pictures if it is a paint residue or oxidation. my 85 has never been painted, and it has sort of a white hazy look, some white streaks and spots that I think is oxidation. I'm not sure exactly what the skin is supposed to look like. We have used a lot of things, some specifically marketed to care for anodized aluminum, some not. we just bought something called alum-guard. It supposedly works well, but haven't tried it yet because temps are in the 100s.

basically, we avoid harsh products, don't want something to drip into a seam or rivet and start to corrode the aluminum. right now our trailer looks a little 'patchy', as we try out a cleaner or polish on a square yard or so, and watch what works best. I can say Met-all made it look great for a little while, but the white gradually returned after about a month. right now, we have had the best results from a strange combination of a McGuires endurance tire gel, lightly applied and rubbed in, followed by a light wipe with silicone spry. It has held up pretty well, but the trailer still is a dust magnet. Of course we live in the New Mexico desert, so maybe it's inevitable.

there is a thread on this forum somewhere with a lot of information on this topic, maybe a search would turn it up.

love to see pics of what you've done already!

[RoseHippie]

Thanks for getting back to me! I just used a razor blade scraper to scrape off the paint. Most of it just chipped right off, but there are some odd spots on the back of the trailer where it refuses to come off. I'll try to use paint remover on those spots. I'll also definitely look into alum-guard, Met-all, and the other products you listed. I was looking into using Met-all, but I heard that it didn't last very long as well. Thanks again!

[Salty]

Kudos to you for cleaning that junk off. I can imagine the amount of work that was. Opinions vary on how to get the white oxide layer off. I've seen a range of:
Take it to a bull hauler trailer shop for a chemical etch
buff off the skin and coat with Everbright
wipe with baby oil/WD40/Penetrol
Remove the anodized layer and shine up like a Lear jet and either spray paint w/ clear coat a`la Airstream or coat w/ Everbright (120 hrs of getting filthy, but in the end it will shine like a Lear jet)

and then there are the painters
Paint with Lizzard skin (EWWWWW)
paint with Automotive color paint (can be nicely done but Hella work for prep)

I have noticed on my trailer, places where there were stickers that I scraped off show the same issue as yours, where the sticker (or paint) protected the skin from the elements and left a ghost image of the outline, like what is on yours. Buffing just made the image stand out better. I hope you have more luck than I.

I applaud your work so far, standing O, you're a brave soul.

As you may know, the skin on your Avion is anodized. This is a chemical process that puts a hard corrosion resistant layer on the skin. Emphasis on hard. standard buffing with a polishing compound has the effect of removing most of that oxide layer, but not really eliminating it.
My personal attempts to buff off the the oxide have been labor intensive and in places (two) I got too aggressive and removed the anodized layer.
Additionally, the lower front of my trailer, on the curved corners, had what I can only describe as road rash.There was no way to recoup the satin finish there. So I committed what many may consider heresy. I painted (GASP) the lower front with a white rubberized coating.

I wish you the best of luck.

[RoseHippie]

Thanks for the advice Salty! I'll have to look into those different options. And yea, this project has been allot of work. Allot more than work I was anticipation. I've been currently working on replacing the whole sub floor and doing repairs on the frame. I'll have to make a post showing off the work once i'm finally done. Thanks again!

[KYAvion]

With varying degrees of success, some use Bon Ami to remove oxidation from the trailer. I wonder if you could remove some of the oxidation from those areas around where the spray paint was and sort of blend those areas with the previously painted spots.