repainting original stock trailer

[PhysicsTeacher]

I'm going to be repainting my original 1999 trailer. Does anyone out there have a product recommendation? I'm currently leaning toward Tremclad rust paint, but I'm willing to spend a little more if there is something out there with superior rust protection.

[dlandersson]

I used black rustoleum on my 97 X trailer

I'm going to be repainting my original 1999 trailer. Does anyone out there have a product recommendation? I'm currently leaning toward Tremclad rust paint, but I'm willing to spend a little more if there is something out there with superior rust protection.

[Bilgemaster]

As 'dlanderson' and many YouTube how-to videos attest, folks do get some amazing automotive results with that humble Rust-Oleum rattlecan stuff, typically by wet sanding between coats and winding up with some fine polishing compound. Just search YouTube for "rustoleum car paint job" and you'll find several afternoons worth of tips on "under $50 paint jobs" for guidance. It's a bit more care to detail than I might lavish on a trailer, but if OCD's your thing, superb and flawless results ARE possible.

My trailer situation when I got my with its original hauler was problematic since it lacked a title. Because it originally hailed from Maryland, it indeed may never have had one, as that state had had titleless trailers until fairly recently. After several encounters with the Customer Service Death Squids at the DMV here in the Commonwealth of Virginia with submitted affidavits and other bureaucratic gyrations proving ultimately unsuccessful in getting a title, I finally took a knowledgeable marina worker's advice and declared it as "home built". Of course, for this to work it would have to at least look sort of "shiny".

Accordingly I gave it a good scrubbing with some 3M type dollar store scrubbing pads, ground off the old VIN near the coupler, treated any rusty spots to a coat of Harbor Freight Iron Armor house brand under-$5 Rust Reformer spray (see: https://www.harborfreight.com/9-oz-blac ... 60788.html), shot it with about 5 or 6 cans of that similarly-priced Harbor Freight "11 oz. Gloss Black Chassis and Grill Paint" (see: https://www.harborfreight.com/11-oz-glo ... 60780.html), riveted on the new DMV-issued VIN plate, and then a state cop came by to verify the plate and presto! I had a title. "Indeed officer! I made it in the back yard out of Silly String!" Just for appearance's sake I did leave a little Harbor Freight flux welder and grinder visibly sitting nearby. I didn't go so far as to be wearing my welding goggles or other steampunk wear when he arrived, but my general impression was that the formalities of confirming and signing off on my trailer's new VIN was perhaps the least interesting assignment of that officer's shift.

Several years on, and that paint is still holding up fine. I also shot about half a can of that Rust Reformer in several misting coats followed by a couple of coats of paint down into that rust-prone open central frame member at the coupler, and that seems to be holding up well enough too. From its scummy and very lightly barnacled bottom when I got it, I gather my boat had spent a lot of time in the lightly salty or brackish drink at a dock somewhere up the Chesapeake or its estuaries, so I gather the trailer had been spared too many dunkings into "the briney stuff", which can eat 'em like salt on slugs.

As it stands, the trailer now really only hauls my Mac a few hundred feet mast up from the state park boat lot where I keep it down to the boat ramps and the fresh water of the upper Potomac and back.

Here's another little tip: once your Mac's off the trailer, on the return, when it's dried out a bit, you can not only touch up any painting bits you may have missed, but also unload a whole can of dollar store furniture polish spray onto the bunks and their carpets. The polish keeps them extra smooth for easy launching and retrieval, fights decay, and keeps it all smelling "lemony fresh".

[Herschel]

I recommend that you at least consider the POR15 product. I used that when I repainted my '98 OEM trailer last spring. Two coats of POR15 used with the acid wash and degreaser products plus two coats of Rustoleum top coat, and I don't think you'll see rust in your lifetime. My neighbor has restored Model A Fords and other antique cars, and he highly recommended the POR15 route for my trailer. Very pleased this far.

[kmclemore]

I’ll second Hershel’s recommendation for POR-15. As many of you know I not only collect boats, but also vintage cars, and POR-15 is the go-to product for preserving frames, floor pans and interior panels for a great majority of the restorers I know. It is not like ordinary paint, and lasts a remarkably long time, even when subjected to abrasion (like in wheel wells). It ain’t cheap, but the good stuff never is.

[dlandersson]

OCD and I are old friends

... but if OCD's your thing, superb and flawless results ARE possible.

[PhysicsTeacher]

Thanks, everyone!
I think I'll spend the extra cash and go with the POR-15.

Kelvin

[Herschel]

I’ll second Hershel’s recommendation for POR-15. As many of you know I not only collect boats, but also vintage cars, and POR-15 is the go-to product for preserving frames, floor pans and interior panels for a great majority of the restorers I know. It is not like ordinary paint, and lasts a remarkably long time, even when subjected to abrasion (like in wheel wells). It ain’t cheap, but the good stuff never is.

Thanks for the "second"! One piece of advice in using POR15 is that it will stick to whatever it gets on really well. Hopefully, most of it gets on the trailer, but shoes, shirts, pants, concrete, deck patio, skin, hair, grass... all fair game! And it it just sits there defying you to get it off! But even that makes you feel good about the added strength you are coating the trailer with. And, of course a good grinder to get off the surface rust. If the "surface" rust seems to run a little too deep, I wouldn't be afraid to have a welder come in and fabricate a new piece either. I had to do that, as well. I straighten a paint roller and attached it to a PVC pipe to get the POR15 inside the square trailer tongue after taking the coupler off, of course. If you don't attached it really, really well to the PVC, it can get stuck inside the tongue! I leave you to speculate on how I know that...

[dlandersson]

Ok, per "Roberts Rules of Order", after a second, you need a vote.

I’ll second Hershel’s recommendation for POR-15. As many of you know I not only collect boats, but also vintage cars, and POR-15 is the go-to product for preserving frames, floor pans and interior panels for a great majority of the restorers I know. It is not like ordinary paint, and lasts a remarkably long time, even when subjected to abrasion (like in wheel wells). It ain’t cheap, but the good stuff never is.

Thanks for the "second"! One piece of advice in using POR15 is that it will stick to whatever it gets on really well. Hopefully, most of it gets on the trailer, but shoes, shirts, pants, concrete, deck patio, skin, hair, grass... all fair game! And it it just sits there defying you to get it off! But even that makes you feel good about the added strength you are coating the trailer with. And, of course a good grinder to get off the surface rust. If the "surface" rust seems to run a little too deep, I wouldn't be afraid to have a welder come in and fabricate a new piece either. I had to do that, as well. I straighten a paint roller and attached it to a PVC pipe to get the POR15 inside the square trailer tongue after taking the coupler off, of course. If you don't attached it really, really well to the PVC, it can get stuck inside the tongue! I leave you to speculate on how I know that...

[kmclemore]

Ok, per "Roberts Rules of Order", after a second, you need a vote.

I already voted. You lost.

[Bilgemaster]

Actually, if it's not too late, I'd "third" that recommendation for POR-15 if you don't mind paying quite a bit more for the very best. Their various products are pretty much the long-acknowledged go-to stuff for proper amphibious Amphicar leak prevention, which is where my other nautical "stinkpot" hat hangs. In fact, I also used a bit of their putty to tidy up a hull scar on my Mac left me by a previous docking-challenged owner.

[PhysicsTeacher]

Herschel,

Do you remember how much paint was required to cover the trailer? Were you able to do it with a quart, or did you need to purchase a whole gallon?
I'm just pricing things out, and I don't want to buy more than I need.

Kelvin

I recommend that you at least consider the POR15 product. I used that when I repainted my '98 OEM trailer last spring. Two coats of POR15 used with the acid wash and degreaser products plus two coats of Rustoleum top coat, and I don't think you'll see rust in your lifetime. My neighbor has restored Model A Fords and other antique cars, and he highly recommended the POR15 route for my trailer. Very pleased this far.

[Herschel]

Do you remember how much paint was required to cover the trailer? Were you able to do it with a quart, or did you need to purchase a whole gallon?
I'm just pricing things out, and I don't want to buy more than I need.

Great question. I chose quart containers. Once you open a can and expose it to the moisture in the air it starts a slow cure. It's not like working with resin, but you want to use all of what is in the can in the day or two you are doing the job. I never tried to store any "left overs". I have unopened quart and pint cans, currently, to use on a portion of the frame and springs of my travel trailer. It says a quart covers 96 square feet. My best recollection was that it took about a quart and a half to do one coat on the trailer. Now, my trailer is double axle, and I wanted to get the springs, the bunk supports, and the tongue inside and out, well coated. Well, everything really. If you want to avoid the necessity of "scuffing up" the first coat with 320 grit sand paper, you have to be ready to put on the second coat within about 2-6 hours after you complete the first coat. Its a long day! Two coats are definitely recommended. I did follow the degreasing and acid wash steps in the prep very carefully, too. I am pretty sure a gallon would easily do both coats, but if you may have some left over product. If my septuagenarian memory serves me, I had some left over and used it to do the tongue of my travel trailer. It is easy to get into a "war on rust" once you get the grinder and the POR15 going!

[PhysicsTeacher]

Thanks!
I think I'll buy 2 quarts at first, and then see if I need more. The stuff isn't cheap.

[Herschel]

Thanks!
I think I'll buy 2 quarts at first, and then see if I need more. The stuff isn't cheap.

Roger that. I'll throw a couple more pics just to offer some collegial support as you launch into the job. The first is of my welders who came in to fabricate some replacement parts that were just too far gone. The second is me in my "Grinderman" super hero suit!