Help

[bigmike77]

hello all i need some help on fiber glassing a trailer and the pros and cons of it . i am a little bit confused on weather i need just resin and do i prep the wood first or not . thanks
bigmike77

[TPMcGinty]

I used Raka epoxy. They have a very good manual:

http://www.raka.com/manual.html

Using epoxy would be a very good way to seal your Trailer. You would have to epoxy seal it and then put a clear marine varnish on for UV protection. I wish I had done it with my trailer the first time. Since I didn't, I ended up with water damage to my Tear and had to cover the ugly damage. In order to cover the visible damage, I used a camo cloth imbedded in the epoxy:

[nevadatear]

Absolutely use epoxy. Run a search on it. There is tons here on this site, several threads in the last few weeks alone. Good luck.

[doug hodder]

I've done 4 tears using just epoxy resin only, no cloth. If you want a woody, it's going to take a fair amount of prep work to get a good finish. Don't use an oil based stain. Get a water based aniline dye for best results. It takes several coats of epoxy to really build up a nice finish. I do a bunch (6), but want it to be as smooth as possible. The more you put on and sand...the smoother it will be. You can't put it over a hard 90 corner, it will tend to split and crack over time. All the edges need to be eased. It applies easiest with a roller, get the official epoxy rollers, the cheap ones from HD will break down in the resin.
If you are going to go that way, get some good wood for the outside. It's a lot of work and effort so make it pay off with some nice looking material.

If you want to paint it...put on the epoxy layers, sand down to give it a tooth and paint it.

Whether it's a woody or not, epoxy resin needs to be top coated to protect it from UV. I use automotive clear on a woody, or just paint on the painted ones. Marine varnish will work, but will require more maintenance. Boats typically get a new coat of varnish regularly to keep the nice bright look. Others opinions may vary, just what I've experienced. Doug

[Wolffarmer]

I put epoxy on my wood trailer and marine varnish over that. As I keep it in a machine shed I don't have to redo it often and then it is just a quick wash, when real dry, hit with 80 grit on the random orbit sander and brush on the marine. It has done a good job for me but I am not as detailed as Doug is. It is for myself and I don't want to be accused of showing up Doug.



Randy

[bigmike77]

thanks all