Aluminum Polish

[Les Pamuki]

Several years ago (1984) i purchased a 1952 20' Airstream for $400. The interior was in excellent condition but the exterior was quite oxidized. I went to Tveten's Airstream Dealership in Milton WA. next to I-5 (now a Sea Ray Dealer) and inquired about restoring the finish on my trailer at the parts counter. I ended up with two cans of Met-All Polish, they were about the size of a large coffee can and filled with a soft pink paste. As i left the parts store with my prized possesions under each arm an elderly man approached me and asked "watcha got there son". I told him about my project and he told me that in the mid 60's Airstreams where clearcoated and did not oxidize like the older units. He than told me the secret to polishing aluminum was "flour". He informed me that when the polish turns to a black residue that i should coat it with flour then remove it with a terry cloth rag. I found out later that this genleman was "Ole Man Tveten" himself. He also told me to start at the top and work my way to the bottom, good advice to keep the finished part of your project clean.  I started on the roof and found it easiest to work on each individual riveted panel at a time. My trailer had 13 individual roof panels front and rear which changed over the years to the present 5 panel, i used to know how many panels it took to make a 52 Airstream but it has been too many years now. After about a week working in the evenings and two weekends using up both cans and a few bags of flour i was totally amazed at the results. The flour really made it easy to remove the dirty paste and reveal the shine underneath. The original rims were quite rusted and the tires were cracked. I was able to replace the rims with 1984 Nissan 6 lug truck rims and a pair of new trailer tires, the rims had center caps and beauty rings and looked really sharp on the trailer. I decided to sell the trailer and a neighbor of mine was the Manager of the Texaco Station  just down the street and told me i could park it there with For Sale signs. On my way to the station i was pulled over by a Renton Cop who informed me the top hinged access hatch for my power cord at the rear of my trailer was not latched and blinding him as it swung up and down. I latched the door and he followed me to the Texaco Station to check out my trailer, he did not give me a ticket or anything he just wanted to admire my Airstream. After dropping the trailer off and making a couple of quick stops i returned home to several messages on my answering machine (remember those!) inquiring about my "beautiful" trailer. I then got a call from the Texaco  Manager informing me of the crowd of people looking at the Airstream and suggested i come back down and have sort of an open house. I did just that and sold it in a couple of hours for $2400 (i was asking $2500)  Over the years i have used the flour method to polish aluminum wheels, aluminum truck tool boxes and various aluminum parts with the same success even using a variety of aluminum paste polishes. Thank you "Ole Man Tveten" for the great advice.  

[richard nance]

no 'after' pictures?ive always loved airstreams.i was polishing an totally dull aluminum wheel the other day and it took me a whole can of mothers aluminum polish at ten dollars.i can't imagine what an airstream would cost to do with mothers.lol.i'll try flour next time.

[Les Pamuki]

Sorry Richard, my evil Ex kept the photos of all the cool stuff i ever owned. At the time that i did the Airstream i had taken before, during after photos as i usually do with all my projects.  I have a few photos that she missed though (a shoe box under the bed) and i believe i saw one shot of the Airstream in with them. It was one of the before photos where i had tested out the Met-All polish/flour on the door. I will dig it up and post it for you. As i recall you can really see the contrast in this photo. The interior was exceptionally nice (all birch) and i had very little work that i had to do in there, it did have a few broken and cracked windows and broken window cranks and the shower was in the left rear corner (you had to tilt your head to shower) so the p-trap got destroyed every time you pulled up over a driveway (52 Airstreams are real Lowriders). I solved this problem by draping a NAPA flex radiator hose between the pipes and clamping a metal skid plate onto it (and carrying a spare setup, just in case). This Airstream also had a pressurized water tank under the sofa and i ended up installing a water pump to keep the pressure consistant. I soon discovered I had to remove the valve stem from the filler cap for this to work and it whistled when i ran the water. The tank had various plugs on it so i went to McLendon's hardware and got some pipe fittings and a backflow valve that i attatched at the upper most plug. This worked out great and of course i had to put the valve stem back in the cap since it still whistled although at a lower pitch (LOL). I sold the trailer to an Optometrist who had a gorgeous dark blue 1964 Cad Seville. He had never pulled any kind of trailer before so we went down to Tork-Lift Central in Kent WA. and had a equalizer hitch installed along with a resistance coil electric brake unit (state of the art in 1984...LOL). We came back to the house and after a few trips around the block with my constant coaching and adjusting the coil he pretty much had the hang of it. I did take a photo of the Caddy and Airstream together in front of my house and they looked great together, i wish i had that photo to post!