 The original pencil-like funnel was rebuilt in 1986 as a more robust one, using metal from the original, when the ship was converted from steam to diesel power.Large quantities of aluminium were used in the framing and cladding of "QE2"s superstructure.This decision was designed to save weight, reducing the draft of the ship and lowering the fuel consumption, but it also posed the possibility of corrosion problems that can occur with joining the dissimilar metals together, so a jointing compound was coated between the steel and aluminium surfaces to prevent this happening.