repair aluminum siding on eagle

pete81eaglefanasty · May 17, 2006, 10:51:52 AM

i was wondering if anyone can help me with a little problem.
the clear coat on my siding got messed up. our garbage can sit at the end of the drive way, where the bus is. i think some thing got sprayed on it from the garbarge truck. the aluminum finish has black streakes like water marks. it did not ruin the aluminum just the clear coat. what can i use to clean off or remove the clear coat and then redo with clear coat, and then recoat it again. thanks for any help i can get. i feel that someone can help. this board is a great help many times. thank's again.

pete 81 eagle fanasty

plyonsMC9 · May 19, 2006, 10:47:04 PM

Hi Pete,

Welcome to the board.

Any luck with this so far? Anybody have some ideas for Pete and his aluminium "issue" ? Inquiring minds want to know!

Best Regards, Phil

DrivingMissLazy · May 20, 2006, 06:21:51 AM

Quote from: plyonsMC9 on May 19, 2006, 10:47:04 PM
Hi Pete,

Welcome to the board.

Any luck with this so far? Anybody have some ideas for Pete and his aluminium "issue" ? Inquiring minds want to know!

Best Regards, Phil

I am somewhat surprised that his siding has a clear coat. I am sure the siding on my 80 Eagle ws just anodized without a clear coat of any kind. It might have originally had a clear coat, but I really doubt it.

Truthfully this is the first time I have ever heard anyone discuss clear coat on any siding and maybe this is why there was no response. My belief is that none of the bus manufacturers applied a clear coat.
Richard

pete81eaglefanasty · May 20, 2006, 08:41:13 AM

hello everyone
let me explain something. it's on the shining aluminum flute siding on the bottom of the bus. it did not harm the paint which is clear coated. that's is just fine. what ever is put on the mirror siding i guess is what they call it at IBP. like i said it look's
like black streaks and water dots. it eat the finishing coat but not the aluminum.
any suggestions would be appreciated. thanks
pete

David Anderson · May 20, 2006, 10:14:54 AM

I too am puzzled as to what happened. Something reacted with the extruded aluminum. You might try a bit of polishing compoud and wax. I also have heard of this stuff called Shiela Shine that is supposed to work on aluminum.

Another suggestion: call Rich at IBP and describe your problem. Perhaps he can help.

David

DrivingMissLazy · May 20, 2006, 10:36:25 AM

Quote from: pete81eaglefanasty on May 20, 2006, 08:41:13 AM
hello everyone
let me explain something. it's on the shining aluminum flute siding on the bottom of the bus. it did not harm the paint which is clear coated. that's is just fine. what ever is put on the mirror siding i guess is what they call it at IBP. like i said it look's
like black streaks and water dots. it eat the finishing coat but not the aluminum.
any suggestions would be appreciated. thanks
pete

Unless somebody has completely re skinned your bus with mirror siding, what you have is anodized siding. This has a shiny appearance, but is not considered mirror siding.

Anodizing is a chemical process that is applied during manufacturing of the siding that gives a very hard microscopic finish to the aluminum that never needs any further polishing. Only water and wax if desired. Never polish with an abrasive compound.

To my knowledge, acid is one of the few items that will harm an anodized surface. I suspect something from the garbage truck had a high acid content.

I have heard of a few people who have tried to buff the anodize finish off their bus because it had gotten so discolored. I do not recall ever hearing of anyone that attempted this and was happy with the results.
Richard

PS some truck washes have an acid wash the use for certain applications. Make sure they never use it on your siding. I have had them use it on my aluminum wheels when I was getting them re-polished.

busboy · May 20, 2006, 03:56:05 PM

What's the proper way to clean the anonized aluminum? I've heard Dawn dish soap and water works well, what do y'all think? I just waxed the Land Rover after 2 years, the bus is next.
Happy Trails,
Brent

pete81eaglefanasty · May 20, 2006, 06:31:30 PM

hi again
thanks for all the suggestions, yes the bus has been completely reskinned with mirrored aluminum. i tried the shiela shine and many waxes, quite a few mcguire products were also tried, i buffed it with several different aluminum polishes, the only thing that i succeeded in was making the black lighter, but the stains are still in there. i tried many cleaning solutions to no avail, but there has to be one to eat it off and i can respray it. i don't want to replace all the aluminum all the way from the air dryer door to the left tail light door. it also ate the finish off the 20 foot aluminum trim that goes around the side of the eagle, but as i stated before it did nothing to the clear coat paint job that's still perfect, i am stumped, i was hoping someone that knows about paint would know a cleaner or remover for me. i've been working on this problem for about a year and haven't found a solution. i tried to post a picture of the bus, but it came back too big, i'm not that into computers to figure how to make it smaller, i'm more into converting a bus than i am into computers. there was a picture of my bus on page 8 of aug 2000 bus conversion magazine. i hope i explained myself enough, i'm hoping someone can come up with a solution, thank you for reading my post.

pete

DrivingMissLazy · May 20, 2006, 06:44:41 PM

Quote from: pete81eaglefanasty on May 20, 2006, 06:31:30 PM
hi again
thanks for all the suggestions, yes the bus has been completely reskinned with mirrored aluminum. i tried the shiela shine and many waxes, quite a few mcguire products were also tried, i buffed it with several different aluminum polishes, the only thing that i succeeded in was making the black lighter, but the stains are still in there. i tried many cleaning solutions to no avail, but there has to be one to eat it off and i can respray it. i don't want to replace all the aluminum all the way from the air dryer door to the left tail light door. it also ate the finish off the 20 foot aluminum trim that goes around the side of the eagle, but as i stated before it did nothing to the clear coat paint job that's still perfect, i am stumped, i was hoping someone that knows about paint would know a cleaner or remover for me. i've been working on this problem for about a year and haven't found a solution. i tried to post a picture of the bus, but it came back too big, i'm not that into computers to figure how to make it smaller, i'm more into converting a bus than i am into computers. there was a picture of my bus on page 8 of aug 2000 bus conversion magazine. i hope i explained myself enough, i'm hoping someone can come up with a solution, thank you for reading my post.

pete

Based on the above, the only suggestion I have is contact IBP. I Still feel it is an anodized finish instead of a painted finish, but maybe Rich at IBP will know.
Richard

Rich (Prevost) · May 22, 2006, 02:10:05 PM

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the confidence Richard, I do know a little about the "annodized Eagle siding".

It either comes in the OEM, or the Mirror finish. Both are anodized. An extremely hard shell. It is a chemical process that creates an extremely tough layer that you can see through. Anodizing cannot be "patched". It can be polished. It is really tough. You would actually have to sand the anodizing & then polish the metal. On an Eagle you would be better off replacing the metal. By the time you sand & polish & then clearcoat the metal to preserve it, you might as well replace the siding. Let me know if you have specific questions.

Rich
800-468-5287

DrivingMissLazy · May 22, 2006, 02:46:58 PM

Quote from: Rich (IBP) on May 22, 2006, 02:10:05 PM
Hi Guys,

Thanks for the confidence Richard, I do know a little about the "annodized Eagle siding".

It either comes in the OEM, or the Mirror finish. Both are anodized. An extremely hard shell. It is a chemical process that creates an extremely tough layer that you can see through. Anodizing cannot be "patched". It can be polished. It is really tough. You would actually have to sand the anodizing & then polish the metal. On an Eagle you would be better off replacing the metal. By the time you sand & polish & then clearcoat the metal to preserve it, you might as well replace the siding. Let me know if you have specific questions.

Rich
800-468-5287

Whew! thanks Rich. I was beginning to think that I was full of bad information.
Richard

David Anderson · May 22, 2006, 03:19:42 PM

Pete,

I looked up your bus in the Aug 200 magazine. As best I can tell you have the regular anodized siding, not the mirror finish. I'm only making my choice based on the quality of the picture in the magazine. It sounds like the "juice" from the garbage truck etched the aluminum. It will be extremely difficult to polish that out if you can at all.

David

DrivingMissLazy · May 22, 2006, 05:14:03 PM

Quote from: David Anderson on May 22, 2006, 03:19:42 PM
Pete,

I looked up your bus in the Aug 200 magazine. As best I can tell you have the regular anodized siding, not the mirror finish. I'm only making my choice based on the quality of the picture in the magazine. It sounds like the "juice" from the garbage truck etched the aluminum. It will be extremely difficult to polish that out if you can at all.

David

Does not look like mirror finish to me either.
Richard

pete81eaglefanasty · May 23, 2006, 09:01:54 AM

hello to all
i know the picture does not look like mirror siding but it is, i had to replace a couple pieces of siding. and i got it from IBP and it is mirror.thanks for all the comment's on this post. i guess someday i'll have to replace them. but for now i'll live with it. thanks again.keep up the good work on this board.

pete