I'm sure someone on the forum has experience with painting the plastic end caps. Do you care to share your experience and how the paint is holding up. What did you use to paint the end caps. Thanks for your help!
First issue is know what material they are made from. My 59 was fiberglass. I would do them in place unless you are taking them out for some other reason. They are very hard to get back in.
I used a two part product from Por-15 that worked great. There is spray paint out there for plastic also. As always with painting it's all in the prep.
I painted both the front and rear inside end caps with flat latex paint that I had mixed at Shewin Williams. They had turned an ugly yellow over time. I took a piece of trim with the original light tan color of the ceiling and walls and they matched perfectly. I got a quart of the flat and a quart of the semi-gloss enamel and have used both in various places inside the trailer. Clean the caps with water and a cloth and sand any rough places. If you have any cracks running form the outside edge ending in the cap itself, drill a small hole (the smallest bit you can find) at the very end of the crack. This will stop in most cases the crack from getting longer. Fill the hole and crack the best you can with a paintable caulking and smooth out. Like I said I used the flat latex but the enamel would probably work as well. They look great and have for almost 10 years. You can certainly use a more elaborate coating/paint but the latex seems to do the job. I can awys touch it up if I need to.
I had to admit ignorance but i keep seeing por 15 mentioned. What is it and why so important to use it
POR 15 is a rust inhibitive coating that is very tough. It is a polyurethane that is moisture cured, and can be applied over rust. POR also sells coatings for other applications as well.
POR-15 is used by many forum members for frame coating.
Ditto to Don's comments on treating cracks prior to painting...
On our '77 Minuet, the interior endcaps are ABS...
They were both thoroughly cleaned with Simple Green and rinsed well. The fore endcap was primed with Zinsser BullsEye latex primer and top-coated with Varspar satin interior latex in a neutral off white. The aft endcap was spray painted with Krylon Fusion due to the fact that it would be subject to water overspray from the aft shower. When we did the Krylon Fusion, the rest of the coach was practically gutted - so we were able to keep the area well ventilated without worrying about the spray mist settling on other surfaces. We would have looked at other options had everything still been in the coach - or done a complete job of covering it all...
This paint has been down for over two years now, with about 5,000 miles of traveling. It's held up very well with no cracking, peeling, or chipping - or need for a touchup...
Thanks for all the replies. The great thing about the forum is the amount of information you can get from others experience. Looks like we'll be sanding, priming, and painting...now if we could figure out what to do with the vinyl covering on the ceiling...
Thanks for all the replies. The great thing about the forum is the amount of information you can get from others experience. Looks like we'll be sanding, priming, and painting...now if we could figure out what to do with the vinyl covering on the ceiling...
Bob
For the vinyl - scrub with Simple Green - rinse thoroughly - two coats of Future acrylic wax. Mine's still doing great after two years - no stickys and easy to clean...
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