Trailer Painting: Transformation in Progress

Just thought I'd share a few shots of my 1961 Aloha compact as she's been getting her DIY facelift by me and my helper Randy.

Here's the rear of the trailer on the day I got it home. Note the heavy caulking around the window and down the J-rail trim. Cleaning off the moss and lichen growth was nothing compared to getting rid of all that caulking. I probably spent 8 hours just on getting the trim rail clean enough to unscrew it from the trailer, and another 12 cleaning all the trim down to bare metal.

This is the point at which the trailer was stripped of all trim, lights, and windows, and was ready for minor repairs and sanding. We'd already cleaned the roof and resealed its seams and around the vent. Randy worked some magic with Bondo, filling in small cosmetic dents like the one to the left of the door. Then we got to know every square inch of the trailer, making her surface as smooth as we could get it via sanding with green scrubbies and an orbital hand power sander.

Then she had to go gray-ugly for a while, with primer applied where needed (some of the old but original paint stuck on well enough to serve as a primed surface).

This is her status now, with a fresh coat of white automotive paint to match my white Ford truck. Once the paint is fully cured, we'll restore her red stripe. Then the cleaned and polished windows will go back in, and we'll reapply all the trim and seal it. She's getting new light covers and reflectors all the way around. She'll need new tires and cosmetic attention to her wheel surfaces as well.

When finally done, she ought to be pretty darn cute. And I'll be able to take what I learned from this trailer, plus all the tools I purchased to do the job, and apply both to the next one.

Of which there are several, waiting their turn!