Jeff Curtis

Okay, maybe I should've asked this BEFORE I painted mine??

I have spent the past two weeks disassembling my 24ft. Haulmark trailer...what a job ~1300 bolts/screws and LOTS of scraping/prying and...CURSING!!

I had all the aluminum panels off the exterior and took it into the local sandblast guru to blast the front transom (visible "V" section that hitches trailer to tow vehicle) and the rear where the tailgate hinges are because it was RUSTED and looking like doo-doo...to include the completely stripped tailgate (ramp) section.

I also ground the hinge pins out and had a forklift on hand to remove the rear tailgate...which we figured out later could be muscled around with two people. ...still pretty heavy.

I painted the front transom with Rustoleum primer and gloss black over that...it looks good, but doesn't seem too durable as I keep chipping it up doing various things.

We have decided to do the rear section of steel frame (where tailgate connects) with truck bedliner coating - VERY tough and a good rust preventative. We are using "EP" primer underneath that. We are also going to do the tailgate with the primer and bedliner material.

SO, this will certainly be a good ongoing test to see what holds up longer in both areas of consideration: asthetic and preservation.

If the front transom looks like COMPLETE doo-doo within the next year, we'll try a fresh coat of Rustoleum black until I can get my friend to bedliner that!

We took an air DA sander with 800 grit or something to the separate panels and got down to bare aluminum in some places...not our intention. We then used an etching agent and EP primer over then, then painted them Ford Dark Shadow Gray Metallic to match my F-250 Towpig...and of course shot with a generous amount of clearcoat then baked the panels.

I spent the better part of yesterday putting the panels back on, overlapping them properly with caulking in between, just as the Haulmark assembly plant had done...with NEW screws, bolts, washers...you name it, about $150 worth of hardware. I went through TWO fully charged batteries for my 18V cordless drill putting ALL those little screws in the panels.

We sandblasted the camlock assemblies, the bars that hold the tailgate closed on each side and one for the side door, we are going to prime and bedline those puppies too, then use that plastic tool dip to reproduce the rubberized handle area - no shortcuts here!

So far, the trailer looks GREAT, although the fresh paint and shiney clearcoat show every little dent/scratch and crease in the panels - oh well. I bought a sheet of diamondplate aluminum and reproduced the side and front trim at a local sheet metal shop with a 10ft. "slicer" so everything is square and nicely cut.

Even had enough left over to make four nice squares to place where the tires of my vehicles will come in contact with the floor.

Has anybody ever painted their enclosed trailers with automotive paint?? If so, how is it holding up?? Is there something we could've done better??

...or did I go overboard??

After investing what probably equates to 80 hrs or more into this project...I vote for the latter!

Next phase is to redo the whole interior, the P.O. had painted it FLAT white, floor, walls, etc. and it takes up every greasy handprint one could muster at the track!

We're torn between the cool black/white checkered flooring or using the truck bedliner guy (professional) again?? Considering doing the section where the car sits in the bedliner stuff, to include the rusty-assed inner fenderwells (visible from inside the trailer, makes a decent bench for lunch) and doing the work area, forward of the vehicle in the checkered stuff.

Any advice/experience on what to do or NOT to do in the way of flooring??

Thanks for reading my EXCESSIVELY LONG post...I'm at work and brainstorming like CRAZY!!

RedlineMan

Sheeeesh!

I would have bought a new trailer! The painted panels won't hold up as well as the original finish. Paint is too thick. You didn't crack it around all the rivets? The original stuff is probably epoxy powder coated. Use POR15 on any steel stuff. It is the hardest paint known to man and will last forever. Floors are open to debate. If you are not a messy person, I like carpet. Maybe even with diamond plate runners. Go glare gloss white on the walls as this reflects the most light.

Bruce P

Jeff -- I own an automotive paint supply business. Your refinish method and materials sound excellent. If you used a basecoat/clearcoat system with at least 2 mills (.002") of clearcoat you have an excellent finish that is better than the original. The panels used in the original manufacture were most likely "coil coated" and had a total mil thickness of less than 2 mlls. Your new system with etch prime, primer, base and clear most likely is 4-5 mills. The industry standard for refinish is no more than 10 mills total for original plus all refinish. If you stay within these guidelines the paint manufactureres now guarantee their products for life. Taking into account that you sanded the original finish (probably half off) you probably have a total mill thickness of 5-6 mills which is fine. We have painted many automotive trailers (including semis) and have provided materials for numerous other trailers as well. Automotive refinish materials today are the finest in paint products that you can buy (you probably know this based on your paint supply bill!). We supply refinish materials like you used everyday that go to refinish the finest autos in the world including our beloved P-cars. Without dragging this response out and getting into the actual chemistry-- I can make a very convincing argument that the refinish materials used today are better than those used by the manufacturers when the car was bulit. With that said I hope you agree that the paint on your P-car is better than the original paint on your trailer ever hoped to be. You have succedded in putting a first class finish on you trailer that will give you many years of servicable life and can be repaired and matched if needed!!

As far as your floor goes -- I would vote for aluminum diamond plate. Nothing better to stand up to all the chemicals etc. that will invariably be spilled on it. I would be cautious as to how the bedliner material would react to hot race compound tires (with imbedded rocks). It is also a pretty much irreversable installation if you don't like it.

Robert W. Bausum Jr.

I have carpet on the floor in my trailer. Holds the car in place nicely, Hot tires can't hurt it. Not slippery when wet.

YMMV

Regards,
Bob

Jeff Curtis

Thanks for the replies guys!

Redlinedude - I can't afford a new trailer!

Bruce P. - nice to have your assurance that we did things right!

Bob - I've considered carpeting as the trailer was previously carpeted (until last week when I ripped it out) and I agree with the non-slip, etc. ...but that stuff was NASTY!!

I may look into the possibility of doing the "workshop area" up front in some industrial carpeting from Lowe's or something, I dunno. I have four 18" x 24" pieces of diamond plate that I screwed to the floor last week...right where the tires to the Porsche and the Toyota sit while hauling.

The bedliner on the floor idea is on hold, although we did bedliner the rear section (framing) of the trailer for the ramp door...to include the skeleton of the ramp door...turned out nice, should provide some stellar rust protection.

We also bead-blasted all the hinges and camlock handles - did them in bedliner too...looks pretty damned cool against the dark gray metallic trailer.

The trailer is almost 100% together and I'm sweating it as I leave for Tampa Monday evening to pickup some parts for my Toyota Sports Racer and visit family...then head back up to CMP for a RACE!!

Just got the innards of the ramp, the tailights and the side fenders to go...polishing those first, they used to be shiney aluminum.