Airstream NTERSTATE

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EXTERIOR

The exterior of your Airstream Interstate motorhome has been painted by Carrera

Designs, a company specializing in custom recreational vehicles, with a Sherwin-

Williams automotive ﬁnish. Carrera Design provides samples of the paint for minor

repairs and a use and care brochure with each motorhome as it leaves their facility. The

brochure has a paint code sticker containing paint information.

This information comes from Carrera Designs Used and Care Brochure.

Following these procedures can provide a long lasting, high-gloss ﬁnish for your

recreational vehicle. These same procedures can also be applied to your everyday

automobile, producing the same long-lasting results.

Waxes and Polishes

Over 90 percent of all automotive ﬁnishes are clear coat. The ﬁnish on your RV is a

state-of-the-art Acrylic Urethane Basecoat/ClearCoat. This means that what you will

wash and polish is a clear urethane coating designed to protect the basecoat: the pig-

mented coating that provides color. As its main function of protecting the basecoat,

clearcoats need to be maintained especially in harsh environments. Clearcoats do not

fade themselves, but appear to fade or lose gloss as the surface becomes contami-

nated by the environment. If this contamination is not removed frequently, results will

be a dull or low gloss ﬁnish. Occasional washing alone will not adequately remove

some forms of contamination and will require polishing.

Polishes and waxes primarily served the following purposes:

1. To remove minor surface imperfections caused by water spots and acid rain.

2. To remove minor scratches by ﬁlling them and leveling the surface.

3. To beautify the paint ﬁnish appearances with more depth and high-gloss.

4. To protect the paint ﬁnish from the elements.

Do not use products that contain harsh abrasives such as rubbing or polishing com-

pounds. These products should be used by experienced technicians with the proper

training and equipment. Most polishes and waxes are designed to clean and polish in

one application whether by hand or machine. A machine applied polish will last longer

than one applied by hand because the high rpm bufﬁng will create heat, resulting in a

deeper wax ﬁlm with higher gloss.

However, a hand applied polish or wax will offer outstanding performance and protect

the RVs ﬁnish. When applying polish or wax, do so in a shaded area making sure

the RV surface is at the speciﬁed temperature according to the polish manufacturers

recommendations. Due to the variations of polishes and waxes, incorporate the fol-

lowing suggestions into the polishing technique:

1. Condition the polishing pad by rubbing a slight amount of polish on it.

2. Use only the amount of polish speciﬁed in the label directions.

3. Work a small area at a time.

4. Rinse off and remove dried polish from crevices, trim and moldings.

For more information, call 574 -- 295 -- 7907.