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Hello out there:
I am Don Girvin and am new to this site. My wife and
I have a 25 ft 1996 A/S which is stored outside in the sun of SE Washington
and had the original clear coat on the top peal off within 2 yr of
purchase, despite our biannual Walbernize job. We had this replaced last
October by a A/S dealer in Tacoma WA (who is no longer in business) and are not
encouraged about how long this clearcoat will last. As yet we have no
oxidation stains on the Al surface. Unfortunately we do not have the option
to store our A/S at a covered location.
I understand loss of the factory clearcoat is a
common problem with A/S and not one I am looking forward to living with for as
long as we would like to be A/S owners. We have heard that there is an
aircraft polish process followed by the application of a polymer which is
used on aircraft and to restore older A/S which have oxidation stains. I have
found a company in Tulsa, OK, called AirMark Surfacing Tools run by a Jim Weston
who will remove the old clearcoat, polish and apply a polymer which is UV
"resistant" for $100/ linear ft for a mirror finish or $75/linear ft for a
buff finish, the latter is similar to the factory finish(prices are in
Tulsa). AirMark does polishing tours where they come to your region and do the
job, but in Tulsa they apply the polymer in a "clean" spray booth which Weston
claims results in a cleaner polymer finish (i.e. no bugs).
This subject may have been much discussed in this group in
the past but I would appreciate any information, opinions, experience on the
refinishing processes like the AirMark process or other similar processes.
Specific questions we have are:
1) Does the AirMark process or other similar processes, if
properly cared for, last any better than the A/S factory clearcoat?
2) Jim Weston at AirMark tells me that washing is
all the care necessary to have the polymer last for years. Is this
true or does one need to polish twice a year using something
like Walbernize ?
3) Are there companies on the west coast that offer a
similar process to that of AirMark? Is Inland RV in Calif one such place and if
so where are they located?
4) If companies other than AirMart offer similar
refinishing processes, how do they compare?
Thanks for your comments
Don Girvin
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