Prepping old trailer for painting

[kudzu]

Hope this doesn't sound stupid but I want to make sure I do it as close to right as possible. Have an old pop up frame with a lot of surface rust. (Surface only, thankfully.) So far it's easy to sand it down to mostly bare metal. Will be using primer for rusty metal.

After sanding & wiping off all the grime leftover from that, what do I need to do to prep it for primer? I'm really lazy so I want the easiest, most efficient method. But since I am so lazy I want it done right the first time so I don't have to do this again for a very, very, very long time.

Thanks,
Laura

[CarlLaFong]

What you've done is pretty much it. You may want to wipe it down with grease and wax remover (auto paint stores have it) or lacquer thinner (outdoors, wear gloves). Hit it with the primer before it flash rusts, which can happen quickly if you're in a humid area. POR-15 is pretty good stuff

[kudzu]

Yep, it's humid around here. How fast is "pretty fast". This was a concern for me since this part of the project is a slow job for me. Sanding it down isn't hard but I can't do it for very long each day so it will take a while. (It's a physical limitation. I just find work arounds.)

Wondering if I should sand a section, paint it & then sand the next section. Yes, I'll end up sanding over a little of what I've already painted & the finish won't look perfect but it's the trailer & just the primer so I'm not really concerned about that.

[kudzu]

Nevermind. Just got my answer. Yikes, that was fast! Little spots of rust all over the area already sanded. Guess I'll be resanding that & putting on primer tout de suite. Aw, so much to learn about the world. That's my lesson for the day.

[grantstew8]

I just wirebrushed and used hammerite. I believe rustoleum and hammerite use the same recipe....
The TD is going to be used on tarmac roads and probably 6 or 7 times a year.
There is a reasonably lively debate about which formula to use, apparently hammerite gets very hard and brittle over time but I've used it anyway.

http://youtu.be/gX6ltF-QxHU