Aerowood, yes, please post product ID's and numbers. When I decided to paint my trailer, I could find no source which could provide such numbers and ID's, so I went to a paint store and followed their advice. The paint job is holding up beautifully, but if I had known of other viable solutions I might have taken a slightly different approach to painting the trailer. We welcome your contributions as it can only help to make this thread a more valuable long term resource when it comes to painting aluminum. Thank you for your contribution. It's good to hear from professionals!
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2002 Toyota Tundra If the big three auto makers go down, somebody else will pick up the slack, our need for vehicles will continue.
I would also like specific part number information. I am still a ways off from painting my unit but I do still intend to paint it (or have it painted) when the time comes.
Primer
1) Alumigard filiform corroision resistant primer (U9003 mixed 2:1 by volumn with U3002, reduced with 1 part T0086)
Topcoat
1) Alumigrip polyester urethane topcoat (mixed 1:1 by volumn with G3010, reduced with 20-25% T0003 or T0002 or T001
Alumigrip paints have several systems and I have only listed system #1 which we use here at work. We also use Awlgrip 545 Epoxy primer with D3001 converter,mixed 1:1.
I use this if no topcoat is going to be used.
Can you say "attempted hijacking"! It's no wonder I get emails almost daily asking me to go over the details again because it is so tedious to follow the project due to the multiple hijacking attempts. If a vendor wants to redirect focus and commerce to his doorstep, he should write his own Chronology!
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2002 Toyota Tundra If the big three auto makers go down, somebody else will pick up the slack, our need for vehicles will continue.
Last edited by Bob Thompson; 08-16-2006 at 09:01 AM..
I paint aircraft components and do paint touchups all the time. First thing is, sanding is a big NO NO. Scratches in the skin can cause cracks in the skin, do to fatigue buildup. To get started we clean the parts or exposed skin with a acid wash and then rinse. An Alodine conversion coating is applied next then rinsed with water and then dried using compressed air. Now it is time to apply an epoxy primer, Generally no more then 1 or 2 coats. Excissive primer only adds weight. We do not wet sand, no need to if primer applied properly. We finish it off by appling 2 wet coats of poly. If any body is interested I can give you product names and P/N's
Aerowood, Just wondering about sanding aluminum. Andy said he sands trailers with air tools before painting, he says he has been doing this with great success for over 20 years. What is your opinion about this?
Sanding Aluminum on your airstream would be alright, although if the skin is Alclad it would remove that surface of pure aluminun that is the skins defence against corrosion. The acid etching does the same thing as sanding does by giving the paint something to grip to, plus cleanimg and removing any surface oxides. One more benifit is a thinner primer coat because you are not trying to fill sanding scratches. It is also very difficult to sand around protuding head rivets. This is the area where most paint jobs start to fail first on improperly preped surfaces. I,m not saying that this is the only way to prep a aluminum surface, but the way it is done in the better aviation shops. Aluminum surface prep and priming and painting are the first line of defence to keep aluminum from corroding. I was very surprised to see that Airstream does not prime all the interior surfaces and mating surfaces of their structure, especailly those surfaces that that are in contact with steel.
Man, what a great thread, Bob! I was looking over the pictures in your album and wondered what they were about, so I read through this.
How's it lookin' 4-5 years in?
Being new to Corpus Christi (but not Texas) I thought I knew about steady windy days. NOT! Let's just say that those constant 25 -30 mph winds in the spring keep my elderly neighbors at home (the exertion takes too much energy), and surprises me every time I open the door.
Great detail in the thread. It is the reason I enjoy reading this type even if I have no intention of doing the same; an anodized trailer has different requirements.
It DOES help to know that nose-to-the-grindstone is often, still, the best way to tackle a big, big project: I need to work over the panel seams -- and other -- on my trailer, and am wondering what your opinion is about the various sealers you used now that some time has gone by.
Hi Rednax, thanks for the kind words. After almost 5 years, the paint is still nearly perfect. It has a couple gravel chips in the front but thats about it. I plan to do an update post in June. This week I've been repainting the tongue with epoxy primer and Imron. Since the painting, the Airstream has been incredibly easy to maintain. It looks good even without a lot of waxing.
For the record, I used Alumiprep and haven't had a single rivet loosen or fall out. I did do a good job of rinsing after the application of Alumiprep then I did the Alodine treatment and rinsed again. From my perspective, it puts the myth to rest that if you use Alumiprep your rivets will fall out.
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2002 Toyota Tundra If the big three auto makers go down, somebody else will pick up the slack, our need for vehicles will continue.
Boy, nothing like a 30-minute turnaround for reply!
Mine is coming home next week from Weber Creek Storage so I can start on some exterior cleaning/painting and investigation of seams, belts, etc. Sorry I'm not up to the level of work you are doing (Imron, great stuff!), POR-15 would be a step up from the Rustoleum aerosol can I'll be using on the exposed frame members.
So, dental picks and ALCOA gutter seam sealant, that right?
NO! NO! The Alcoa Gutter Seal turned out to be awful stuff. The Seamermate I referred to around post #71 is the good stuff!! It looks almost as good today as it looked when first installed. It definitely is UV resistant. It is the real hero in this tale! One of the best products I've ever used and it's so readily available.
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2002 Toyota Tundra If the big three auto makers go down, somebody else will pick up the slack, our need for vehicles will continue.
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