Smoothing stucco aluminium on trailer restoration

theoatob

New Member
Hi Everyone,



I should immediately confess I've just found SPI while researching my problem, this is my first post and I hope you can excuse me if it's also my last. It looks as though there is wealth of good advice here and while I'm not a professional I will be very appreciative if someone here is able to point me in the right direction.



I have a 1950's trailer I'm living in and restoring to a finish I'll be proud for life. Hopefully the life I'm giving it will allow it to put live me!



It's clad in stucco textured aluminium which has been painted already and I want to bring to a smooth finish ready for me to 2K paint in metallic green. Each depression is less than 1mm deep.



How would you go about getting it smooth? I'm deep in the learning curve of figuring out featherfill, high build, base coat, direct gloss but so far at a loss for the easiest most effective way to do it.



Hopefully the pictures illustrate what I mean. Any advice much appreciated.

Theo
 

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First you have to figure out a way to get rid of the existing finish and get it into epoxy. Also I'm sure there is silicone containing product around the windows that will be challenging to remove. Filling the texture is not too huge of a problem, getting the foundation right is actually the toughest part.
 
Your trailer would be a prime candidate for soda blasting. It is the safest easiet way to strip paint aluminum. There are plenty of companies in the UK who offer this as a mobile service. It would be money well spent. After soda blasting you would need to neutralize it with a good soapy water wash, and then use an aluminum etch/cleaner type pre treatment. (due to the pebble finish....unable to effectively sand it)
Then for ultimate longevity and adhesion you would want to use a quality epoxy primer (don't know if you can get SPI in the UK). After that being that you want to fill in the texture a polyester primer on top of the epoxy would be the best choice.
 
I'm only trying to help, so call it tough father love.

We sell a dealership and some Rv repair shops.
I sent pictures to one. He said if he was asked to paint, start at 20,000 dollars plus costs to repair panels as that is why it is stucko to hide lousy work, and you can see twisted panels, so it probably ends up costing 40,000 when done.

Here is what that said to me, it is not something you can do with no experience, and it's not something I could do right with 48 years of experience.

I would clean it super well, and # buy an excellent house paint and spray a couple of coats on and five years from now if I need paint again.

Like my customer said, for ten thousand you can find a nice older in perfect shape trailer to buy in any length you want.
 
Wow, I'm really blown away with the advice you've each given and the insight it's giving me, thankyou for the consideration you've each given.

I'm figuring my way between Barry's suggestion of a quality house paint and what I could achieve with Chris's suggestion to soda blast... I think the panels are less warped than the images make them look but they are dented to some extent and will need filling no matter what. Once filled the paint to texture difference between the stucco and the filler will show which inclines me to soda blast and swallow the imperfections from whatever warping comes up in the final form. Soda blasting will set me on a route of higher costs and 4x the labour outlay which is a hard swallow. Fortunately lots of soda blasting outfits in the are (lots of graffiti I figure!)

Barry, if you had more details on house paint types that you'd go for that would be useful for me to them see what's available in the UK.

Shine, great shout on the bed liner! Definitely checking that out!
 
After talking with the guy that restores the old trailers, here is what he said he would do for cheap.
Get some automotive grade 180 sandpaper and a 4-inch block, sand in a straight line to make the panel flat; you will not be taking off the texture product but making it smooth.
Go to the house paint store and find the best exterior house paint they have, roll 2 to 3 coats.

Edit::
He said biggest concern is roof sealing so don't leak, as an Rv owner this is an every year check to be safe.
 
If doing house type paint, I can step up what you get and do.
Used a bunch of Sherwin Williams commercial multi-surface acrylic on exterior house and commercial doors. It is thin & best to spray. Commercial DTM very similar. Also use their exterior urethane trim paint which is thick for brushing touch ups or a few jobs I was forced to paint onsite in windy conditions. I'd say identical quality when fully dry between the 2.
Also used Coronado Rust Scat which is now available at Benjamin Moore stores. Initially tested similar to the multi-surface acrylic, but tougher after a few weeks drying time. Name sounds stupid , but it's been around over 20 years & can be used on anything from wood to metal roofs. Best results when sprayed.
PGT has a similar commercial acrylic paint, I'd say not as good as above.
Any of these products dry hard enough to sand, unlike crappy latex house paints. Can thin & spray with automotive type sprayer or preferably a pressure assisted gravity feed sprayer such as my Titan 6 stage turbine unit. Never found the high pressure only house paint units to be precise enough for me. Also I always use a little glycol alcohol paint conditioners and or floetrol if brushing or more of it if spraying thinner mixture, rather than just water. Also rarely use primer with any of these products, particularly with clean raw aluminum.
If your metal is not badly corroding through the original paint , could just sand clean & shoot over. Final adhesion strength will be after a few weeks, but may be able to sand even a few hours later all depending on humidity , temps & airflow. Huge dry difference with environment , as opposed to catalized . Light coats dry much faster & adhere better. Could sand much of it with random orbital or da, 220 if really rough, 320 & finer later.
Bedliner obviously would be tougher at a much higher cost, but from what I've seen so far, has less uv resistance than commercial acrylic paints.
 
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