Trailer Painting, Underway

In May, I was the beneficiary of a nice older man's goodwill when he decided to give his 1961 Aloha compact away to a good home. It hadn't been used in 15 years except by some nesting wasps. After I got her home and cleaned her up (bye-bye, wasp nests!), I decided she was due for new seals and a new coat of paint.

Not that I'd ever done any of this before--I had not--but I just figured 'what the heck, it's a free trailer and as good to learn with as any.'

Many, MANY hours later, her trim was off, windows removed, her roof was cleaned of old mobile-home coating and resealed, and all the hand-sanding was complete. I used green scrubbies and an orbital hand-sander to remove old flaking paint and to get a smooth surface.

Next, on the advice of an auto-painting buddy, the bare-metal places were treated with rattle-can automotive primer.

Since this is a spare-time project, it took until the end of July to reach this point. By then, it was too hot to paint, so the next steps had to be put on hold.

Yesterday (first weekend of October), the painting planets finally aligned! Tucked into part of the barn, now a makeshift painting booth, the Aloha got a fresh coat of automotive paint applied with a Finex paint gun. Whereas I lost count of the prep-time after the 80-hours mark, this step took less than an hour.

Now I'm letting her sit, curing, for the 72 hours recommended by Auto Painting Guy. Then her red stripe will be restored, her trim and windows will go back on and in, she'll get new tires and hubcaps, a modern propane tank, and new light covers all around. She'll be like a trailer-Cinderella, ready to go to the ball.

I have no idea how long of the rest of this is going to take. But it sure will be nice to work with a CLEAN fresh surface, instead of the one I started with.

And, I can also say, without reservation, that I now understand why quotes for professional paint jobs are as high as they are.