Painting

[Pikey2574]

I have an old "little dude" trailer made in Fort Worth Texas that has been taken over by surface rust and seen its better days. I plan sanding down the whole trailer and taking it apart to be sure to get it nice and clean but has anyone recently primed and painted a trailer and have any suggestions on products? I have looking into POR-15 as well as Rustolem. I also have access to painting it with automotive paint and applying a clear coat, has anyone done this before? <br /><br />Also with POR-15 and Rustolem I have heard some guys mention just putting the paint right over the top of the surface rust. Doesn't sound right but does it work?<br /><br />Thanks<br /><br />Kevin

 

[bubbakat]

Re: Painting

I sand blasted mine and primed with rusteloum primer for rust preventive and the painted with rustolum. paint with hardener added and it has been a year now and still looks good. I wiped it down with vinegar and water mix before primming

 

[RC Hammer]

Re: Painting

I too used rustoleum. I wirebrushed the rusty spots and hit the real bad spots with primer. I then used the White Enamel on it. Looks like a new one! IT has not been quite a year, and still looks good. I would recommend the rustoleum. I actually rolled mine on as I did not have a sprayer.

 

[RatFish]

Re: Painting

Back in the 80's, I painted my rusty boat trailer. I wire brushed it, put on rustoleum rusty metal primer and top coated with rustoleum (all brushed on). I have mainly used it in fresh water and have had to touch up a few spots over the years but it still looks good. Just make sure you get the loose rust off and use a quality paint.

 

[Buttanic]

Re: Painting

Best thing would be to sand blast it and paint with ZRC cold galvanizing paint.Only thing better would be hot dip galvanize.<br /><br /> http://www.zrcworldwide.com/index.html <br /><br />Buttanic

 

[JasonJ]

Re: Painting

My EZ Loader was completely covered in surface rust. I sanded with 80 grit down to the metal, and painted with enamal that was meant for bare less than perfect metal surfaces. It has been very durable and I havn't seen rust since...

 

[BillP]

Re: Painting

I painted an old Gator trailer with aerosol cans of spray cold zinc and it held up several years in saltwater use without rust popping back. I washed and lightly spot sanded the trailer before painting. A few places needed grinding and welding too as I beefed it up with gussets to make up for old age. It was expensive to do it this way compared to brushing Rustoleum. Next time I would probably spot cold zinc only on the raw steel places and use a rustoleum type over the galv areas.<br /><br />Sherwin Williams also makes an excellent heavy duty commercial primer and paint system for badly rusted metal. It's an industrial grade and a step up from Rustoleum. Price is higher too.

 

[gewf631]

Re: Painting

One of my first projects next spring, will be to re-paint my trailer using Herculiner. $40-some for the materials, but from past experience, this stuff should outlast most everything else.<br /><br />It doesn't look as good as a nice high-gloss finish, but then again, the non-slip properties are a definite plus.<br /><br />Just my $ 0.02

 

[Lark40]

Re: Painting

I used POR-15 for years and always had bad results with it blistering. This was despite sandbasting or acid dipping the frames. Plus, you can't get it off your hands short of amputation!<br /><br />Try the galvanizing paints noted above, or the Eastwood product (used to be called Corroless) at http://www.eastwoodcompany.com./Dep...bCat=Rust+Encapsulatorwww.eastwoodcompany.com.[/URL]