Quote:
Originally Posted by planBe
I would like to put a white coating on the roof of my 1978 Airstream Sovereign, but cannot find the right product. Does anyone have any PROVEN suggestions?
I have considered using Avery Dennison vinyl model #SW900, however, the rivets would make laying the vinyl very difficult.
I bought and tried CoolFlex from http://coolflex.ca/, but I could peal it off the aluminum skin with my fingernail on my test piece even weeks after applying it.
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No paint system will adhere well unless the surface is prepared properly first. In the case of metal, you need a slightly roughened and
very clean surface.
Vinyl paint is
not the best for aluminum. You would do
much better with a polyurethane paint coating system. I say "system" because you're looking at surface prep, primer, intermediate coats, and topcoat to do it right.
Rather than applying one thick coat, applying two or three thin coats provides a better finish. On the plus side, applying multiple thin coats doesn't use any more paint than one thick coat, it just takes longer. A trick I learned from painting contractors, if each coat is a slightly different color than the one below it, you can tell if you've gotten full coverage or if you missed a spot. If you want the topcoat to be gloss white, for example, the coat below it could be slightly off-white, and the coat below that could be white, alternating for as many coats as you want to apply.
Awlgrip makes paint for boat hulls and masts— including aluminum boat hulls and masts— that should do the trick on the roof of your Airstream. Here is a link to Awlgrip's guide to surface preparation for painting aluminum:
http://www.awlgrip.com/support-and-a...-aluminum.aspx
And another link for the topcoating:
http://www.awlgrip.com/support-and-a...opcoating.aspx
Only the surface prep and primer coat(s) are specific to aluminum. Once the primer is in place, you're not painting aluminum anymore, you're painting
paint. But all coats need to be the same type, in this case polyurethane, to make sure you get good adhesion between coats. If you follow these guides, and use the primer and paint recommended in said guides, you should be happy with the end product.
Also, make sure the temperature where you do the painting is above 50°F, AND at least 5°F above the dew point. Do all the work in the sun, or all in the shade, not part sun and part shade, because you want the whole thing to dry at the same rate.