Cleaning up the aluminum siding on the 4106

[OneLapper]

Ok, this is the summer to clean up my crappy looking 4106.  And get the new bathroom done.  And the get the triple bunks finished... and..... oh well, it never really ends, does it?

I want to repaint the blue stripe because, well, it's basically falling off.  I started picking at it and marveled at the number of layers!  Some sections have 15 layers of paint!!

I really wanted to figure out how to clean up the anodized siding.  It looks just plain bad.  I have a spare panel that I started to experiment with.  I have to admit it appears that I've had some pretty good results, so I wanted to share them with you guys.

Here's the panel as it looked when I pulled it out of the pile of stuff.  It's been outside for years.


I bought this stuff because I saw it used on another bus, but it was a really nice looking bus to start with.  I don't know how long the shine will last, but it looks fairly promising that it will last months, if not maybe even an entire year.  They are dozens of YouTube video testimonials indicating it lasts quite a while.


I divided the panel into three sections, Left, Middle, Right. On the Left, I took the Wipe New and used it on a completely unclean, unwashed, untouched section.  The Middle section I used 2000 wet sanding papers and, using my hand and a spray bottle of water, I quickly clean up the section.  I used the Wipe New and let that sit a few days and was impressed how much better it looked.  On the Right side, I used a different type of polishing compound and an orbital polisher with a terry cloth pad.  By paint standards, this would be considered pretty aggressive, I would say you'd be trying to remove a pretty heavy scratch or heavy oxidation.  Well, as you can see, the machine polish removed the streaking almost completely, and without much effort.


These are the two products I used


I decided to try a section of the bus.  It really didn't take more than a couple of minutes to use the polisher and compound, wipe it clean with a terry cloth, then wipe it carefully with the Wipe New.



I'd like to hear other peoples success (and failure) stories on cleaning up the siding on these old beasts.  I was really amazed that the polished removed the streaking completely.

I'll update this thread over the next few months with photos of the panel and bus to see how it's weathered.

[christopher]

back in the day, we used kerosene and wiped it down with  a rag. there really is not much available when it comes to anodized alum. different products will clean and remove the anodizing

we removed all the trim and had them re anodized. as far as the body goes maybe you can buff it clean then use a clear coat, but thats out of my relm
good luck

[luvrbus]

The Eagle guys seem to have good results with the Wipe New you see those guys walking out of WalMart with a sack full of Wipe New

[Charles in SC]

There has been discussions on this forum before about if it is anodized or al-clad.
I would love to clean up my siding as well but I am afraid that once I do it I will not have time to keep it up.
Something I thought about was to go to one of the truck stops around here some fellows hang out and polish aluminum on trucks. They seem eager to work and have the equipment and skill to do the job. I think once it is done I could go have it polished a couple times a year to keep it looking good.

[OneLapper]

I wanted to polish (cut) INTO the anodizing, but not remove it, in an effort to remove the acid streaking.  I really had no idea what to expect, who knows how deep the streaks go into the anodizing.  It appears that GM went pretty heavy with anodizing the panels.  I didn't spend much time or effort on the panel or bus to get the streaks out, and I was super careful to not go too deep.  I'd say it's pretty safe to use a polish for heavy oxidation on them.  I'm going to give it a few weeks and see how it lasts.  If it stays looking good, I'll do the entire bus!  Then I'll have no excuses to not repaint the blues stripes!  I just need to borrow a good HVLP spray system....

[gus]

I think you removed the anodizing, pretty hard not to with anything abrasive with power. I have one panel that has had the anodizing removed. I may just paint the whole thing!

Also the color looks like bare Al.

[OneLapper]

It's been one month and the test panels that I polished and use Wipe New on look as good as the day I did them!

[OneLapper]

How about a 5 year update?

This topic has popped up on the Facebook page a few times and RJ twisted my arm to post a picture of the same panel 5 years later. 

[dtcerrato]

We used to swear by a product called Sheila Shine until we tried Wipe New!
There's no comparison... Sheila Shine is an oil that lays on the surface - looked as good as Wipe New but didn't last. Wipe New is a top coat polymer and is durable as heck. It does perfectly & exactly what weathered anodized aluminum is crying for! We do swear by it and are always surprised at how good a job it does over such a long period of time for very little labor to apply at a fair price.   

[Jim Blackwood]

I'll also endorse the wipe-new. I used about 6 bottles last year to go over my DL3 (painted red btw with alcoa wheels and the paint was oxidized) and it wintered very well. Looks like it will easily hold up for a couple years and maybe more. Restored the shine. Well worth the expense and effort but check the boxes before you buy, sometimes the bottles leak (about 30% of them). And then it's useless.

I do some anodizing. Your oxide film is at most .0005" thick. Doesn't take a lot to go through it. But it is harder than the aluminum below it. If you do go through it there should be a slight difference in appearance from where you didn't. I'd just coat it with the wipe-new and not worry about it. After cleaning of course. That's a real nice looking job. If you can manage the whole bus it'll sure look good. Commercial (truck stop) buffers are probably worth it. I don't think I'd have the effort to do the whole thing.

Jim