Aluminum skin problem / formica skin possibility?

[prohandyman]

I spent the last weekend camping with several tear drop owners at the Newport Antique Auto Hill climb in Newport Indiana. Several of the tears were Kit copies made by Jim Linder at Bubba's Trailer park in Indianapolis. They are very well made and very nice replicas of the early Kits. A couple of the owners of these tears came to me and said that the aluminum skin that is used on these tears tends to show fingerprints and other marks more or less permanently. I think Jim uses 3033 aluminum. One tear even had what appeared to be water marks running down the sides that would not rub off by my fingers, and one of the owners said he had tried some different cleaners with no results. I don't think any of the owners are on this forum, but thay are looking for anwers short of sanding or steel wooling the surface.
And, one owner is even wandering about re-skinning the exterior with a Formica type of laminate??! Being in the cabinet business, I inquired today with a engineer at Formica and the obvious answer was no way, no warranty, etc. But I explained to them that the edges would be sealed, and that just the surface would see any weather and UV rays. They really didn't want any part of it, so I respectively said goodbye.
Any thoughts from the masses?
By the way, I picked some laminate scraps from my counter top fabricator and I am thinking of starting a outdoor test on some of the pieces.
Formica has some really cool aluminum looking laminate called Decometal. Looks just like brushed aluminum.

[Miriam C.]

We want pictures of the test ya know.

[rainjer]

Ed Ester in Washington State build teardrops with formica walls & aluminum or SS roofs. They seem to hold up fin here in wet Washington.

Here are 4 of them parked together in 2006.


This "woody" is also one of Ed's trailers.


Jeremy

[doug hodder]

Dan, it might also be an idea to make up a sample, dangle it behind a rear tire for a while like a flap and see how it holds up to rock dings...neat idea to try, but I personally don't think it will take road wear. Others opinions may vary. Certain colors might hide any potential dings however. Even with a nose bra, I am surprised at the places I get rock hits. Sides aren't so bad, but the front and upper roof get it. Doug

[Gerdo]

I don't belive that standard laminate is made to endure weather.

[halfdome, Danny]

The plam sided teardrops that Ed Ester has made are in the standard grade with the gloss finish. He uses stainless on the roof. Ed figures that they are garaged and should hold up over time. I've been tempted to make one with Cherry plam but I like the aluminum look over plam. I did use plam on both sides of the floor in TD #2 and the inside floor on TD #1. It makes a clean build. As long as it's properly contact cemented and sealed on the edges with moldings it should last a long time on the outside walls on a teardrop. Danny