Hi guys, my rub rail channel which is aluminum is scratched up a little and a little worn looking, can you prep and paint this? I've never painted aluminum so any feedback would be great.
Sand out the scratches, if they are bad start with 320 then 600 to get rid of the sand marks then hit it with etching primer you can get at any auto parts store then paint.
The primer isn't really primer as in it doesn't really fill imperfections but actually eats into the aluminunm to give the paint a good bond so any scratches in the rail will be in the paint if you don't sand them out.
I agree with the previous posts. However, 2 seasons ago I painted my aluminum rubrail and regretted doing it almost instantly. The reason is that as soon as I hit something ever so slightly the paint immediately came off and it looked bad. This year I removed the rubrail and had it bead blasted and it now looks great and needs no paint.
What about just rubbing it down really well with a Scotch Brite pad? That would give it a satin finish and easy to touch up in the event you contact anything. After all...isn't that why they call it a "rub rail"?
What about just rubbing it down really well with a Scotch Brite pad? That would give it a satin finish and easy to touch up in the event you contact anything. After all...isn't that why they call it a "rub rail"?