Painting the trailer black

[junemann]

Hey I just have a quick question.

I wanted to paint my hf frame black, I'm not really a painter so I'm unsure of the process. I've heard I need to sand off the red paint, but I just figure there has to be an easier way.

Any help is appreciated!!!

[madjack]

...just sand enough to "scuff" the paint and use paint of choice...I use an industrial black enamel I get from NAPA............
madjack

[planovet]

What MJ said

[starleen2]

. . . but you could sand it all off if you wanted something "extra" to do and had plenty of time on your hands - after all the daylight is getting longer!

[TwilightLane]

I started w a red HF 1800# trailer. I didnt treat the frame at all, just wiped it clean. I used black spray paint with mixed results. I had some minor bubbling where I think there was oil film. But the main problem was coverage. I keep having to touch up areas where the red shows through. Esp once I got it out in sunlight.

I'm certain there was an 'inexperience' factor, but I found the rattle can of spray paint to be a PITA.

[bobhenry]

Black truck bed liner in the rattle can. I used 2 cans (about 15 bucks) on my handrail frame. Covered all but the tongue. Bulletproof textured finish and even made my poor welds look good. I did no prep other than to wire brush off the mud

[dh]

OR, if you really want to get into it, try some paint stripper. How in depth do you want to get into it? Will your walls hide the frame? Do you just need to do tongue? Just a few thoughts. I'b do what MJ said, just sand the paint down, and clean it up with Tide or oven cleaner, or engine degreaser. If you want a really shiny black, I'd go to bare metal, and sand it down with a 400 grit, prime it, sand to 600, prime again, wet sand to 800, then 1000, then shoot the black, wet sand to 1500, then 2000, then shoot the clear and buff it out. Buff1 (get it from Snap-On) is a really good bufing compound. It breaks down into halfs as you use it, so it automatically gets a higher grit with usage. Remember, the shinier black gets, the better the metal under it better be. It will show off every little tick turd under the paint.

[Emaxx3]

rustoleum rattle can from big box store - I used two cans and it looks good. It is a trailer and most will be hidden from view anyway. Easy enough to touch up down the road. I did zero prep other than hit the frame with a pressure washer to get off the dust. So far so good. If you are going for show room finish than use an above suggestion... if you want to get rid of the red hit it with a couple rattle cans and be done in less than an hour. Time is time - what is it worth to you? For me, an hour was enough for me on something that will probably never be seen. Oh yeah, I also skipped some of the inner rails as the only one who would ever see them would be looking up from under the trailer. Someone going under there to examine my work can nit pick if they want. I'll be moving on to more fun parts of the build that will show later.

My 8 cents.

Jon

[junemann]

thanks guys,

yea i was definately going for the easy approach, i just sanded it a smidge and did the rustoleum spray can, and i thought it worked real well

[Larwyn]

Guess I'm a little late but all I did was wipe the frame down with some denatured alcohol before spraying with Rustoleum Pro flat black. It is hanging in there just fine but could use a little touch up here and there.
A light sanding before wiping it down, then spraying, would probably be better.

[Toytaco2]

I painted my HF frame with Rustoleum Hammered finish paint. The frame was painted to match the door frames and the insert molding. My son (a pro painter) sprayed the insert molding and the door frames, but, I just scuffed the HF frame with light sand paper and painted with a brush. I honestly can't tell the brush painted frame from the sprayed parts. That hammered finish is a really cool looking product and brush marks do not show.

Good Luck,
Mike

[frank_a]

any kind of painting success is all in the prep. I would sand the surface with 120 paper, clean well (I use NAPA's Kleanz-Easy for paint prep), do two or three light coats of primer, two or three light coats of color, and sometimes I follow that with a couple coats of clear. For a frame, I think primer and finish coats would do. I would test a small area first and let it set for a day or two and make sure there's no paint reaction.

Frank