Sanding / painting interior

[kamo]

Hello,


I'd like to repaint the interior of my '62 Bambi.

Before painting I want to sand the walls. Most of the surfaces are curved, so I assume a 1/4 pad sander will not work- what's the best way to sand?

Can I use acrylic paint, or should I go with oil based?

Thanks,
Kamo

[InsideOut]

Well, a '62 Bambi originally had Zolatone. It's a speckled multi-color paint. It is still avaialble today although is a bit more involed to apply than a latex house paint. It is very durable and if reapplied will give you another 40+ years of service. The nice thing is, it's slightly textured and covers many imperfections that your Bambi may have accumulated over the years. Most vintage folks appreciate a previous owner that has stuck with the original Zolatone finish when looking to buy a trailer of that era, thus the seller will garner more $$$.

If you decide you don't want to go that route, you really don't need to sand the old paint, just wash it and rinse it very well, prime it with Kilz or some other quality primer and paint with a paint of you choice.

You can use the search tool here, upper right, and gleen lots of info on Zolatone and painting from others that have walked the walk before you.

Good luck in whatever you decide to do!

Shari

[Foiled Again]

About 5 years ago I worked with a friend who was restoring a Frank Lloyd Wright house. They had a bathroom/mudroom that had a very industrial looking coating on the walls that I'm almost sure was Zolatone, but it also looked like it had a clearcoat over it. Unfortunately somewhere along the road someone had tried unsuccessfully to repaint the room... more than once.

The newer latex layers never stuck well and he wanted to go back to the original. He came up with a very interesting technique to get off the latex without damaging the original finish. He stuck duct tape on the wall, left it over night, then put warm wet rags on top of the tape for 10 minutes, then yanked the tape. The latex came off in strips and the base finish was undisturbed. Often the latex would peel off for an inch or two on either side of the tape. I got involved when I stupidly suggested that maybe just ironing a wet towel on the wall would work. It did, but not as dependably as the tape. We got 99% of the latex off easily. A few stubborn spots remained, but mostly where the original Zolatone had been damaged by a screw hole or ding. Those he touched up with some model airplane paint he matched colors on.

Paula

[markdoane]

I would recommend sanding, if you are going to repaint. I didn't, and the Zolatone speckles defintely leave a pebbley texture to the surface. On top of that, the speckles develop pinholes.

You can use acrylic latex paint as long as it is exterior. Interior paint is not flexible enough for the temperature changes it will see.

I used an ICI product called DevFlex. It sticks good.

[kamo]

I have to repaint the inside because the original is dirty, and I'm not too keen on the color either.

Do you guys have any tips on how to sand the curved surfaces?

Thanks,
Kamo

[InsideOut]

Originally Posted by kamo

Do you guys have any tips on how to sand the curved surfaces?

Thanks,
Kamo

A foam/sponge sanding block, by hand.

Home Depot has them, they are made by 3M and they call them Contour Sanding Sponges

Shari

[kamo]

Thanks for the suggestions.

I'll try the magic eraser, but I think it'll end up being repainted...

[CaddyGrn]

Hi,

We have a 63 Bambi and repainted ours with zolotone. Very happy campers! We washed the old dirty zolotone with 409 and a green scrubby thingy and then a warm water rinse. The new zolotone adhered perfectly. I would highly recommend going with zolotone unless you want to strip paint then repaint... zolotone has oodles of colors you will certainly find something you like! Go to a automotive paint person and ask to see a zolotone sample. There are hundreds of colors so if they give you one page of paint chips, keep looking. I think zolotone has a good website too. Try goggling "zolotone".

Good luck and let us know what you decide!

Mrs. NorCal Bambi (traveling in S Tardis)