Painting the "tongue" of a trailer...

[Andy R]

I need to repaint the tounge of my trailer. I would like to paint it with silver colored paint. What is the best paint to use? I would also like to repaint my Reese weight distribution hitch silver. I take it I can use the same paint?

Thanks in advance! Andy

[83Excella]

And if you have a later model with the metallic blue I have the paint code for that if anyone wants just let me know I will find it and post.

John

[ALANSD]

I found a nice silver/aluminum paint at Walmart- used it to paint some spots on mine, underneath but showing...it looks great shiny, and it covered well. Also has a rust inhibitor. No I did not paint anything that was aluminum already.

[Andy R]

Do you have any more info about the Walmart paint you used? Name, brand, etc...

You gotta love Walmart!

[66TradeWind]

I have not used it personally yet but have heard from others that por-15 is a great rust inhibitor. You must top coat if exposed to sun because uv will deteriorate it. Their website is here...POR-15

[Charcigar]

This was the product I was going to use for my tongue.Was not aware it would break down if exposed to UV rays.

What sort of top-coat is required?

[ALANSD]

The paint from Wal Mart was a rustoleum product, Shiny Aluminum
or something like that (i am out at the moment). They stocked quite a few paints like that, and when I checked Home Depot had a good selection as well. That Por-15 looks like great stuff, just not as readily available.
WalMart also had the rust stop primer- the one that converts rust to metal, so you can paint over (after you chip off the loose stuff)

[66TradeWind]

POR-15 have paint to topcoat with. Click link to go to their website and have a look. Pricey stuff but worth it if it lasts. CLICK HERE

[ALANSD]

I checked my aluminum paint it is Duplicolor Hi Heat Aluminum. It was 7 or 8 bucks a can at Walmart, but they had it on sale for 1.50 and I bought and used all they had 4 cans. Did my exhaust, and some other areas...it looks shiny and blends well. I use rustoleum rust stop black enamel on the trailer hitch. Did a few coats, waited for dry time between, and a non humid (rare in Atlanta) day.

[apple 1]

I have used Por15 on several automotive restorations and while expensive it is well worth it, as it does not chip and it does stop rust if you follow there directions. I am unaware of a UV problem as have only used it on frames which when under the car do not see any sunlight. If done once with Por15 you will never have to do it again.

[Jim W]

Glad to hear that POR15 is that good. The storage area at the rear bumper got pretty rusty. I took the bumper off & cleaned out all the rust I could. I than painted it with POR15. That was really thick stuff. It looks good, I hope it last a long time. The POR was silver in color, so it sort of matches.

[Charcigar]

Jim...did you paint the inside of the rear storage compartment or just the exterior?

Did you use a UV protective topcoat as well?

I will be getting to this project(bumper,steps and tongue)shortly myself,so appreciate any feedback.

[tenrsingr]

Jim, what is the best way to go about getting that bumper off? I also have a great deal of rust. I am starting to worry also... I need to do something soon, cause I tried a rust converter a year ago and I dont think it worked so well... Does the whole back area drop down? Is this a one or two person job? Thanks

[tenrsingr]

John,
You mentioned you had color numbers? What are they? I would like to repaint the Airstream letters (you can see what they look like in the photo area) and the nameplates on the sides. The ones with International on them, they were once red, white, and blue I think. They have been missing on my TT and am replacing them soon. Thanks.

Steve

[83Excella]

Tenrsingr,
I think it was me you are asking? the underbelly color is called Metallic Grey and is Dupont Centari color # 44146-A. An automotive paint supplier will be able to mix it for you. I priced it last year and thought it was on the expensive side.
For the color letters on the side such as Excella (gold), International (red/white/blue), etc. someone else suggested using model paint and a small paint brush such as 'Testors' found in any hobby store.

John

[tenrsingr]

Great.... Thanks for the info there.... And the Testors colors? Should I just try my best at matching a paticular color? Or should I just pick my own shades of R/W/B?

Steve

[83Excella]

I dont know what shade they are, you could just match it as best you can or make it unique to your own tastes. Some people will only accept a stock original replacement and others like to customize mildly or full, its all up to the owner and if you dont like the results you can always change it.

John

[Jim W]

Hi charcigar & Tenringr. Sorry for the slow response to your questions. My computer has been down for a few days. I only painted the inside of the rear storage compartment with the POR paint. I bought that POR from the POR people at a auto show & they didn't mention anything about UV rays to me.

Tenringr, I took the rear bumper off to clean as much of the rust out of that storage compartment as I could before painting it. My rear bumper is held on with four large screws. They were tight & hard to get loose to turn. I have a really big screw driver that I hit with a hammer a couple of times to get the screws loose. They came right out after that. Only took maybe ten min to get it off. Went back on easy.