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Thursday, November 14, 2013

Painting Over Rust on Bumper, Tongue, Hitch and Trailer Parts


I don't know what made me feel so much better last week but the last few days I have dragged. I wish I could figure it out. I drank 2 liters of coke today and still dragged all day. It is not yet 9 p.m. and I have been wanting to go to bed since 4 or so. 


Anyway, I thought I would share about what I did for my trailer rust. 

When we bought the trailer, the guy just painted over all the bumper and tongue. I didn't give it much thought until I have been working on the rest and thought I had better cover that rust or I may have a problem in the future. I forgot to take a picture of the underside of the trailer before I painted and I wish I had. All the metal under the trailer was red with rust. The bumper was the least of my problems. 


I used an electric sander and sanded all the areas I could find with rust on the bumper, stairs and tongue. I had to special order in the Hammerite paint. They had only silver color and in the gallon size. Rustoleum and Hammerite both have spraypaint at several local stores but five cans of paint is about $45 with tax. Rustoleum has quart sized brush on you can order online from Home Depot. 
 
But, I have used the Hammerite brush on for the wedding two years ago and the stuff that is in the back yard is still looking great after two years and I was VERY happy with the product and how far the paint goes so I paid a little extra for the Hammerite paint and had it special ordered into Ace hardware. 

It took 3-4 days to get it in but they have brown, copper, silver and bronze and maybe gold. It was just under $60 for the gallon. I used the bronze for the wedding but wanted brown for the trailer as that is the main color scheme on the outside of the trailer and I already had the brown paint on the bumper etc so I figured it would be the best match. 


After sanding down all the rusty parts, I used water and paper towels to wash off all the sanding dust before painting. On the underside of the trailer where there was no old paint, I didn't sand anything and the paint went on just fine and seems to be on there well. 


I spent 4-6 hours painting the entire underside where there was any metal showing and the bumper, stairs, tongue and stabilizer hitch. I let it dry overnight but it was dry almost everywhere soon after painting but I didn't want to put the gas tanks on until it was really dry. I also didn't want to fold up the stairs until they were VERY dry. 
 
I was COVERED with paint after I was finished and it took me an hour to get off the paint and I wish I had taken a picture of my hair as I got some of the sticky butyle tape in it from the ground when I scooted around as well as twigs, gravel, leaves and paint. It took me another 40 minutes to get that all out of my hair. It was funny when I was finished, I had little pieces of all that around me on the bathroom counter. 
 
If I were to do it again, I would say wear a beanie,  hat, hoodie or a shower cap to make sure you don't get it in your hair. I used mineral spirits to get it off my hands and legs, neck and face and a pumice stone to scrub it out of the cracks in my hands. I dug out my nails with a file and am almost back to normal after four days. 

I felt like I had painted the Sistine Chapel the next day as my neck and arms were stiff and sore from straining under the trailer. At one point, someone came to visit my neighbor and could hear my music but couldn't see me as I was completely under my trailer and I could see them looking on the ground for a phone or ipod wondering where the music was coming from. It was kind of funny. 
 
Here is a link to the video of me showing the underside, stairs, bumper and tongue painted.  
 
Here is link to where I used Rustoleum and Hammerite on a desk.  

Here is a link to where I used them both on a jewelry hanger.

I like both products but felt since I had good results with the brush Hammerite, I would stick with it and for the price, it was cheaper to do the brush as well as easier for what I was painting. I have 1/4 can left that I can use for another project or for touch ups.






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