Day 1, 2, 3: Let's start having fun!
There is always so much new stuff to learn when taking on a new project ... that said, my shopping list looked fairly modest. I went to the local ACE Hardware with a small list of things that I determined I needed.
1. Rustoleum Spray Primer
2. Rustoleum Spray Paint
3. Various Sandpaper/ Sanding sponges
4. Green maksing tape
5. Evapo-Rust (gel)
Everything was pretty easy to find, with the exception of the Evapo-Rust in gel form, but it was recommended for application on vertical surfaces. I found it at the local O'Reilly and AutoZone auto parts store. I had been researching online and talking to friends trying to understand what I would need to take rust and paint off. I had hoped that wire brushes and sand paper would work because I am not interested in using paint stripper. I've always been a bit sensitive to chemical vapors in general and the thought of using Jasco (although I have used it in the past) was a real turn-off. So, I knew my approach would take a bit longer but I had high hopes all the same. The orbital sander proved to be the right tool for stripping down paint from areas where rust bubbled through. My palm sander worked in some areas but was mostly noisy. The wire brush didn't do anything. The life-saver was our cordless drills outfitted with stiff wire or copper wheels. Those were amazing!
G and I walked around the trailer and discussed where we were going to start. I figured starting on the outside and then going to work on the inside. As it turns out spending about 4-6 hrs is a good amount of time to spend out in the sun sanding and painting. Things that got done the first weekend were pulling the aluminum trim off, taking the spare tire off, removing the windows on the side. The right side rear quarter side of the trailer got sanded down, the rust converter applied, and the prepped metal sprayed. The rust-converter gel worked great! I was impressed by how terrible it smelled but it was very effective and wiped off easily with a damp rag with water. The gel worked best when it wasn't in the direct sun so we tried a few creative shade options. Much to G's disappointment, the pop-up tent worked great.
Those first two days were all about removing the aluminum trim, sanding, treating rust,and applying primer. There is a surprising amount of aluminum trim on a trailer by the way. Also, all of the aluminum trim was attached with pop-rivets. G figured that the pop-rivets were easy enough to replace (which we tested) and proceeded to use a drill to break the rivets to remove the trim sections. I tried to be diligent and write the original location of each piece as we took them off. The trim all went into separate paper bags based on location. Lights and reflectors came off, got labeled, and went into a box... Even the diamond plate panels came off as we started working our way around from the right rear corner, down the side, around the front, and over to the left corner.
I admit it took a lot of convincing on G's part to get me to go along with removing the trim. Howver, once we got started and I saw how easy it came off and he showed me how it would go back on, it seemed like the right thing to do. I really didn't want rust hiding under the trim. The diamond plate panels proved to be the real culprtis of hidden rust though. I tried a few things to get the corrosion off the panels. Bon Ami and a toothbrush got a lot of the gunk off but I'm still not sure how to brighten it up. Will have to reserch that or I'll have shiny trim and dull plates.
G (unbeknownst to me) had completed metal shop in highschool and loved it. So on day three he taught me the joys of polishing metal. I found that I really enjoyed the zen of the work. All the trim has a brushed coating which has oxided over the past *cough* 30+ yrs. Turns out the perfect formula for polishing this to a nice chrome-y shine is to start with 80 grit on the oribital sander, follow that with 120 grit on the orbital, and then using 180 or 320 sanding sponge. This prep work sets up the trim perfectly to then use the buffing wheel and some rubbing compound to get a very nice shine. I kept all the plastic strips that go in the side trim channels but at this point I'm not sure I will clean and reuse it or not. I think I'd rather have a different color but if I can't, this looks like it will be fine to reuse with some cleaning and Armor-all treatment.
1. Rustoleum Spray Primer
2. Rustoleum Spray Paint
3. Various Sandpaper/ Sanding sponges
4. Green maksing tape
5. Evapo-Rust (gel)
Everything was pretty easy to find, with the exception of the Evapo-Rust in gel form, but it was recommended for application on vertical surfaces. I found it at the local O'Reilly and AutoZone auto parts store. I had been researching online and talking to friends trying to understand what I would need to take rust and paint off. I had hoped that wire brushes and sand paper would work because I am not interested in using paint stripper. I've always been a bit sensitive to chemical vapors in general and the thought of using Jasco (although I have used it in the past) was a real turn-off. So, I knew my approach would take a bit longer but I had high hopes all the same. The orbital sander proved to be the right tool for stripping down paint from areas where rust bubbled through. My palm sander worked in some areas but was mostly noisy. The wire brush didn't do anything. The life-saver was our cordless drills outfitted with stiff wire or copper wheels. Those were amazing!
G and I walked around the trailer and discussed where we were going to start. I figured starting on the outside and then going to work on the inside. As it turns out spending about 4-6 hrs is a good amount of time to spend out in the sun sanding and painting. Things that got done the first weekend were pulling the aluminum trim off, taking the spare tire off, removing the windows on the side. The right side rear quarter side of the trailer got sanded down, the rust converter applied, and the prepped metal sprayed. The rust-converter gel worked great! I was impressed by how terrible it smelled but it was very effective and wiped off easily with a damp rag with water. The gel worked best when it wasn't in the direct sun so we tried a few creative shade options. Much to G's disappointment, the pop-up tent worked great.
Those first two days were all about removing the aluminum trim, sanding, treating rust,and applying primer. There is a surprising amount of aluminum trim on a trailer by the way. Also, all of the aluminum trim was attached with pop-rivets. G figured that the pop-rivets were easy enough to replace (which we tested) and proceeded to use a drill to break the rivets to remove the trim sections. I tried to be diligent and write the original location of each piece as we took them off. The trim all went into separate paper bags based on location. Lights and reflectors came off, got labeled, and went into a box... Even the diamond plate panels came off as we started working our way around from the right rear corner, down the side, around the front, and over to the left corner.
I admit it took a lot of convincing on G's part to get me to go along with removing the trim. Howver, once we got started and I saw how easy it came off and he showed me how it would go back on, it seemed like the right thing to do. I really didn't want rust hiding under the trim. The diamond plate panels proved to be the real culprtis of hidden rust though. I tried a few things to get the corrosion off the panels. Bon Ami and a toothbrush got a lot of the gunk off but I'm still not sure how to brighten it up. Will have to reserch that or I'll have shiny trim and dull plates.
G (unbeknownst to me) had completed metal shop in highschool and loved it. So on day three he taught me the joys of polishing metal. I found that I really enjoyed the zen of the work. All the trim has a brushed coating which has oxided over the past *cough* 30+ yrs. Turns out the perfect formula for polishing this to a nice chrome-y shine is to start with 80 grit on the oribital sander, follow that with 120 grit on the orbital, and then using 180 or 320 sanding sponge. This prep work sets up the trim perfectly to then use the buffing wheel and some rubbing compound to get a very nice shine. I kept all the plastic strips that go in the side trim channels but at this point I'm not sure I will clean and reuse it or not. I think I'd rather have a different color but if I can't, this looks like it will be fine to reuse with some cleaning and Armor-all treatment.
