It might be in specific forms ready to be processed - eg. blocks of specific dimensions or weights.
After 10 years outside, it's probably covered in dust and grime, and gotten an oxide layer. It probably isn't immediately sellable to a car factory...
But it could be reprocessed very inexpensively and become sellable. The loss of value would probably be well under 1%.
People saying "it's so old, it's basically scrap" either don't know what they're talking about, or they're deliberately deceiving - and being market traders, I suspect the latter in the hopes of pushing market prices higher.
It keeps increasing (exponentially slower, thus with a finite total depth) even without any other chemical.
Anyway, out on the world there are many chemicals that can make it deeper, can peel it from the metal so another layer forms, or can mix with it and make it less insulating. I would be surprised if loses are as low as 1% as people point on this thread, but shouldn't be very large either.
Fire is a phenomena whereby a fuel is combined with an oxidizer to make a new product in a manner that releases heat (ie: an exothermic redox reaction).
Rusting of metals fits that bill since heat is in fact released (just a super tiny amount and rather slowly), so it's _technically fire_ - although fire more commonly implies the rapid release of copious amounts of energy as part of the process.
I have a 1983 Honda and the aluminum shines like a mirror. It didn’t always. When I got it the metal looked dull and weather possible damaged. It is amazing what buffing it can do. From garbage to mirror finish. Very satisfying to watch aluminum being polished. The aluminum did loses some of the outer layer that had oxidizes but looks brand new once cleaned up. Looks new and has the structural integrity to be used in aircraft is not the same but for the purposes of a motorcycle cover it is just fine. There are many other applications for aluminum that structural integrity is not if concern like heat sinks. The LED light I am building uses aluminum extrusion as heat sink.
It's for manufacturability, not design... Airstreams are now a premium brand, and it's quite expensive to develop and maintain a mirror polish. Someone buying a $150k polished trailer expects it to be completely unblemished.
You can still polish it yourself, it only takes about 80 hours of manual labor...
Also any road damage or wear will be much more visible on a polished surface, which is not a premium look.
I thought earlier-era Airstreams were buffed and clearcoated before initial sale. My only evidence is vintage photos, and the fact that some owners "restore" the mirror finish.
Well you will see big rigs with the polished tanks on the road already. They are typically cylindrical and even the back end is bubbled out so you do get some shine it’s not like a direct beam of light hitting your eyes.
Yeah I was going to say, repeated rain (which is slightly acidic) and the like will keep pelting it. I mean the lifetime can probably be extended if they store it inside a building, but that's a lot of building space.
After 10 years outside, it's probably covered in dust and grime, and gotten an oxide layer. It probably isn't immediately sellable to a car factory...
But it could be reprocessed very inexpensively and become sellable. The loss of value would probably be well under 1%.
People saying "it's so old, it's basically scrap" either don't know what they're talking about, or they're deliberately deceiving - and being market traders, I suspect the latter in the hopes of pushing market prices higher.