Cleaning aluminum siding on my Eagle

[john9861]

Wes,
  I've been gone a few days but wanted to catch up this post. Give me a call tomorrow (Saturday) if you can. I've got some helpful info for your consideration
here. Hope you guys have been well...

[goldgiter]

I decided to contact the Blue Beacon Hqtrs again to make this situation formal and let them know what I expected from them.
After talking to the nice lady at customer service I was contacted by my "buddy" Randy, the manager, He was upset that I had contacted the main office, since we were such good friends, and assured me that my bus would be better than new when he finished.
I explained to him that I was indeed his buddy and wanted to remain so and that I did not want a little thing like money to come between us and destroy our friendship!
They were suppose to come buff it today ( Sat ), I got a call late yesterday and Randy said they would be coming Sunday instead of Saturday and that they were going to polish part of the siding so I can see how good it looks and then wait a few weeks to do the rest to make sure the streaking does not come back and the new finish will hold up!
We shall see.

Wes

[blue_goose]

Tell him to google Anodizing, then he will know as soon as you try and polish it is gone and the aluminum protection is gone. It may look great for a few days but will not last.  Anodizing is done just like silver or gold plating.  Anodizing puts a service on the aluminum that will not conduct electric current and also protects the metal.
Jack

[luvrbus]

They have insurance ,the adjuster started beating on me about the deprecation part that went no where so he paid me and left.
They will buff with a acid compound and coat it with silicone like they do on wheels is that what they wanted to do for mine. Pay close attention to the rivet heads that is where the problems comes from just explain to your friend Randy what you expect if he gets pissed he will get over it if he is a friend   
It is a lot of work and a very expensive ordeal to replace the siding, shaving the rivet heads gets old in a hurry  

[DoubleEagle]

"Randy" is not your buddy. I would not let them touch my bus, hopefully, you will do the same.

[bigred]

Back when I first got my coach ,I started to run it through a truck wash .The guy at the wash said "You are crazy as H--- if you run that bus through this truck wash"!! I did not need to be told twice !!

[goldgiter]

Randy showed up around 12 with a guy that works for a polishing company@ wheels, fuel tanks, air streams etc.
He used a 7 in grinder with a buffing pad, he applied some type of compound to the edge of the pad and buffed 3 spots that I chose, about 1ft x 1ft.
He wants to wait a few days so I can see how it holds up!
Actually it looks real good so far.

Wes

[DoubleEagle]

Any piece of aluminum can be polished to a good shine with the right polishing compounds. You can even polish the aluminum corrugated flooring in the baggage bays, but they are not anodized, and will have to be polished every so often to keep that shine. Once your anodized layer is polished off you are doomed to time consuming polishing on a recurring basis. How long does the polishing of aluminum wheels last?

[eagle19952]

Any piece of aluminum can be polished to a good shine with the right polishing compounds. You can even polish the aluminum corrugated flooring in the baggage bays, but they are not anodized, and will have to be polished every so often to keep that shine. Once your anodized layer is polished off you are doomed to time consuming polishing on a recurring basis. How long does the polishing of aluminum wheels last?

how much anodize can be left on a 31 year old coach...?

[DoubleEagle]

how much anodize can be left on a 31 year old coach...?

On my 1975 & 1984 there is still enough to remain a satin finish (with imperfections) that will not turn dull like unpolished aluminum would. There are even older GMC's that still look reasonably good.

[Scott & Heather]

So the real question is this...is an MCI better than an eagle because it has stainless?


Something about having a "tougher skin" keeps popping into my mind
😉


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[luvrbus]

So the real question is this...is an MCI better than an eagle because it has stainless?


Something about having a "tougher skin" keeps popping into my mind
😉


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You could get Stainless siding on a Eagle but it looks tacky on a nice Eagle

[eagle19952]

On my 1975 & 1984 there is still enough to remain a satin finish (with imperfections) that will not turn dull like unpolished aluminum would. There are even older GMC's that still look reasonably good.

i have read some about degradation of architectural anodized ALUMINIUM  and 9 years reduces the anodize thicknesses significantly. and these are surfaces that are not subject to road grit aka pitting... pitting being the most degrading factor.

just wondering.

[goldgiter]

Figured I would update this post those interested.
I washed the siding down with baking soda and water before the guy started buffing it to hopefully neutralize any acid left.
When the guy came to buff it we agreed he would only buff enough to remove the staining from the acid.
It took him a little over 8 hrs to buff all the siding and it turned out real good.
We have had rain several times and the streaking has not returned.
I have also been told of a product called EVERBRITE that is used on the aluminum frame work around windows in commercial buildings, have not tried it yet.

Wes

[luvrbus]

My wife uses Everbrite on her S/S cooking pans and for her cooper do dads ,I tried it on my wheels it was way to much work for me.Good luck on polish job but me I would not sign off for at least 90 days