ThePewterPalace Our Love Affair with Avions

On a recent facebook post on our Pewter Palace page we showed what a difference a little, albeit temporary “spit n polish” can do for your vintage Avions.

We promised to share our tips, techniques and products with you.

But before we do that- be sure you know the proper way and supplies you need to wash your anodized aluminum Avion. Watch this slideshow (or you can just listen to the audio like a podcast)

SUPPLIES NEEDED:

• Microfiber cloths, 3 -5 should do (or no lint cloth like old t-shirts, etc.)
• Step Ladder sufficient to reach completely over the front and rear nose of trailer
• Rubber or latex gloves (recommended)
• Container of Owatrol which we have purchased in the past off Amazon. LINK (note, our container was bought a few years ago so design is a little different. Be sure to get the one in orange tin can for hand application, we don’t recommend their aerosol spray on. There are some different formulas so please pay close attention to the container. Below is a photo of what we use. More on this solution below.

WHY OWATROL?? initially it does seem odd to be applying a “paint conditioner & rust inhibitor” to your trailer to brighten up the anodized exterior. However, this product was recommended to us by two highly knowledgeable Avion veterans! Dean Bailey, now in his mid-90s (2024)owned an Avion dealership with his father for over 30 years in Ohio. Dean told us about this product the first time we met him in 2018 when we attended our first Silver Avion Fellowship Rally in Elkhart, Indiana. He said that is what his family used on their personal Avions to keep them looking so good. And if that was not enough of an endorsement for Owatrol, Chuck Cayo, the grandson of one of the original owners of the Avion Corporation (and Chuck still works on them in his shop in Benton Harbor, MI) and is considered by many the Guru of Avions!) told us to use this product as well when we owned our first Avion, a 1973, 28 ft LaGrande model.

Here is a quote from the Owatrol Store ( Q & A section) on Amazon.

Is it suitable for outdoor metal surfaces?

Yes, Owatrol Oil is suitable for outdoor metal surfaces. Its unique formula penetrates and protects metal from rust and moisture damage, providing a tough, flexible finish that is UV and water resistant.

What does Owatrol DO exactly? Owatrol is NOT a cleaner. You must start with a perfectly clean AND DRY Avion.

(1) Owatrol is an oil based solution so when you apply this you should see an instant and dramatic reduction in the white streaking (oxidation from age) that plagues many of our vintage Avions with the anodized aluminum exteriors.

(2) The Owatrol coating does dry in about 8-12 hours to tacky and 24-48 hours to a hard coating. While this “coating” is not a permanent fix, we have found that it will last at least a few months, more if you dont hit too many rain storms and/or you store your Avion inside a garage when not in use. Before we went full time in our 1987, 32S model Avion we would do the Owatrol treatment in Spring and then again in early Fall. But back then we also stored our Avion’s in RV storage garages with doors and out of all weather.

(3) Important note!! we have never owned a shiny Avion that were made early on in production years- so we have no way to know if you would ever put Owatrol on a shiny Avion.

HOW TO APPLY AND APPLICATION TIPS:

• Start with a just washed and dry Avion with anodized aluminum exterior
• Ideally you are also doing this on a cloudy warm day, not in direct sunlight and not on a windy day where debris in the air is going to be trapped into the solution as you apply it. Don’t apply if chance of rain for next 48 hrs.
• We feel the best temps to apply are between 60-80 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Be sure your can of Owatrol is not too cold or too hot. We have found warm is best for flowing on.
• We apply the Owatrol either direct from the can, capping and shaking it every now and then during application time. We have also used a generic clean spray bottle (purchased at Lowes) with a trigger sprayer to apply. Either way works but with the spray bottle you eliminate having to close and shake the tin can.
• Working in very small sections at a time is very important as it does go to the “tacky” stage quite quickly and hard to go back and try to blend section areas.
• We have found you need to apply always in HORIZONTAL motions with your cloth—do not do the Karate Kid style of circular or vertical strokes. [please don’t ask me how we know!]
• Blend and feather each section as you work almost like you ARE painting!- you do need to work quite quickly moving on to the next section.
• We like to do the top most section (above the belt line) first.
• We start at the nose panels, then work along this top section also giving the aluminum ZipDee awning cover a coating too. See photo below to show how on the right side it shines up the awning aluminum cover too!

• Continue working your way around to the rear nose, again do those panels reaching as far up and back as you can to cover. (We have never applied Owatrol on our roof but I guess if the roof is clean aluminum you could)
• When applying around the windows try not to get onto the glass. It is oily and gets sticky and who wants to wash the windows again anyway?!!
• You will need to do some vertical strokes around the awning uprights and the window frames which is fine, just keep it to those specific areas, otherwise always horizontal motion for all other open flat surfaces.
• While this project can be done easily by just one person, we have found it helpful to have a buddy who can supply you with your next cloth after the one you are using gets too dirty or soaked. Yes, you will see some blackening of the cloth even though you have just washed your trailer. That is normal, especially when working around the rub rails and window vinyl trim.

The buddy helping you also is good as a spotter. Often times someone standing at a different angle can see a spot or two that the applier person may have missed. We notice this especially if we have one side that is even shadier than the other. Lastly, it is always more fun to have someone taking “before and after” photos as the process of applying the Owatrol is being done. Its very rewarding to look at after all your hard efforts to make your Avion bright!

WHAT OWATROL WILL NOT/Cannot DO:

• Owatrol is not a one and done treatment like some others like an Everbright or a professionally applied Ceramic coating. It also costs pennies compared to those much more permanent finishes. We refer to it as a periodic “Spa Treatment” for our Avion.
• The Owatrol wipe down brightens the anodized finish, helps to cover over the white oxidation streaks seen on sides of our Avions. These streaks are especially predominant where water trickles off from the roof down the sides of the rig. It will NOT remove those streaks, but in providing an oil finish that hardens, the streaks are far less visible for the time the coating prevails.
• Owatrol does not make your anodized aluminum into a shiny mirror finish, rather it brightens the beautiful and much harder/durable anodized finish.
• How long will it last? this is a hard question because so many factors are at play: do you store your Avion in a garage when not in use? if so, how many days in a 5-6 month period it is outside? how many rain storms have you been through since its “spa treatment”? was your Avion spanking clean when you applied it? Did you allow it to harden up over 2 days before moving it down the road or have rain?
• We found with our ’73 being garaged when not in use that our finish lasted about 5 months with about 25-30 camping days during that same time, barring too many rain events. Now that we are full time in our Avion we are finding it much harder to find places to wash the trailer and be able to apply the Owatrol and let it sit to dry sufficiently. 90% of campgrounds do not allow RV washing!

ARE THERE ALTERNATES TO USING OWATROL?

yes, there are! Grab a can of WD-40 for a “quick fix”

Ideal when attending a vintage trailer rally, or just having friends over to your campsite for a cookout or if you have your Avion at home and want it to look its best for company then by all means get a can of WD-40, some microfiber cloths and go over your Avion with WD-40 for a quick brightening.

Again, always best to do when the trailer has just been washed and is dry. Best to apply when a shady day or in the shade of trees too.

WD-40 is a short term fix. It washes off with rain!

It also does attract bugs like glue so best NOT to apply before you travel- wait till you are parked at your campsite then clean your rig of any road grime and give it a coating of WD just like we outlined in steps above.

In conclusion, here is a quick slideshow of our 1987, 32S model Avion after we applied and let to dry Owatrol treatment on December 19, 2024. We will keep you updated here on how long it lasts this time.

The Pewter Palace does look happy!

As always we welcome your comments and feedback. We hope this blog post inspires you and help you with tackling this project! Please keep in touch!

Sincerely,

Kevin, Luise and Nutmeg