Skinning the sides

[Forrest747]

Ok new here and what the heck am I getting into? Thoughts of run away come to mind. I digress. Ok building a modified Cubby with a custom frame that I am building, myself. I am trying to plan ahead in the build and have most of the parts, already. However i am really having a hard time with the sides. I am wanting to match my Jeep in the color scheme and in look. Thinking of skinning it with Aluminum and painting it, yet that is really labor intensive. Would it really hurt and add alot of wieght to skin it with auto grade steel and take it to a paint shop to paint. Or do I do exposed wood and get the epoxy paint or what ever you use, to match the Jeep color. Thank you.
Forrest

http://thecharlietrailer.blogspot.com/

[toypusher]

I don't know anything about the auto grade steel, but you should be able to take aluminum covered to a paint shop and get it done just as easily as steel.

I have been told by a local paint supplier that there are new paints for AL that are as easy as painting steel. No special prep like it used to be.

[kennyrayandersen]

you could do it in fiberglass too, but it might be a little harder (labor intensive) to get smooth. Steel is triple the weight of aluminum, or just nearly. No reason you can't paint aluminum, but it does look good when it's buffed!

[LMarsh]

From my build I didn't think adding the aluminum skin was all that labor intensive. I mean compared to the rest of the build it only took a few days. I don't think I'd use steel though because of weight and rust. We don't use our tear in the winter but with all the work we put into it I wanted this thing to last. EVERYTHING I could make exterior is stainless steel or aluminum and all wood is meticulously protected and covered.

I was going to use an epoxy paint over wood but then thinking about all the patching and sanding I wasn't sure if it was really what I wanted for all that work. Plus I wanted maximum durability over time, like years and years. My wife didn't want the Airstream look of just aluminum so I knew I was going to have to give it some color too.

I figured completely skinning it in aluminum would make it last almost forever and rather than pay an auto body shop to paint it I just did it myself. At first I was going to shoot some automotive paint on it since I've done a couple cars, very amateur jobs though, but the whole project's cost was getting pretty high. There are lots of choices for paint types but the color selection is limited on a lot of them. To have any real color choice you probably have to go with automotive or latex/oil based. Of course here in the great state of NY yet another freedom has been denied as we can no longer purchase oil based exterior paint. So latex it was.

I prepped it as best I could and got a really good compatible primer that would stick well to bare metal. Then I got the best and highest gloss latex. I tried a fine foam roller but found careful smooth horizontal brush strokes gave it the best smooth and glossy look. So far its held up great and is easy to wash. I had a lot of doubts about the latex and I'm very picky about details but it turned out pretty good for the price. One day I hope to strip it off and use some high quality automotive paint too.

One more thing, if I ever build another tear with aluminum, to avoid it staining I would only use anodized. I can't speak for everyone but I've found its hard to keep looking like new.