# Painting my old travel trailer



## bdegroot426

I have just purchased a 81 travel trailer to fix up. The first thing I would like to know is how I would go about painting my trailer. It is aluminum. Do i have to sand/power wash it down to the base or can I give it a good cleaning then paint over it. Thanks in advance


----------



## antigua

I have access to a paint booth so personally, I would sanding, prime and paint with an automotive paint. If you want a lasting paint job, you really need to spend the time in prep work. It's hard work but that hard work will pay off in the end.


----------



## l2l

I agree with Antigua if you prep it correctly the paint will stick longer and will look better.

I have known people who have used Tremclad paint and to be honest you would never know.

Good luck I am sure it will look great


----------



## towin76

Antigua, my travel trailer has been sitting in the Mojave Desert for years. The paint has been sand blasted almost to the metal, but I want to remove all of the paint because it will chip off under the new paint. What would I use? I have tried paint stripper, wet sanding, scraping etc. I would like to "wipe on, wipe off". Who wouldn't, huh? Thanks....


----------



## artmart

Even with the trailer being sandblasted by the desert, you'll still need some prep work to clean anything off the metal so the primer will stick. Then the paint will stick to the primer.

You're on the right track to get rid of the remaining paint, but realize you are trying to undo what mother nature has been doing to that rig for years - either blasting paint off or baking the remaining paint on. It will require a bunch of work. Maybe a trip to a professional paint strip shop may be needed. It will not be fun measuring the amount of work versus the cost. Maybe you can rent a sandblasting unit if you can do it yourself.

Paint on that rig is definitely required. And the better the prep work, the longer it will last.


----------



## towin76

*Sanding on Aluminum*

I cringe to think I could ruin the aluminum with sanding. The trailer is a 1974 Ideal 23'. It was white on top, tan in the middle and white on the bottom. I will be painting the top and bottom, but hopefully removing all the paint from the middle and leaving it shiny aluminum. My nephew started to take a stripper pad on a drill to it....not a good thing at all. The wet sanding seemed to do a good job. I bought some airplane stripper and hopefully that helps. Thanks for all the input. I am just looking for an easy way out. You are all so right about the prep work....So important.


----------

