MayBell
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1959 DeVille
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Post by MayBell on Sept 16, 2019 12:59:00 GMT -8
What is his name?
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aslmx
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Post by aslmx on Sept 16, 2019 17:25:02 GMT -8
We found a guy here in Phoenix who has been polishing airplanes and trailers for 25 years and had quite an established business. Price was perfect for us. Better than any paint job and I love the look of it. $1000 to polish of $1300 to get scratches and dents out as well. He said it should last about 5 years here in Arizona. We will definitely be going this route when we have the money. What are thoughts about leaving exterior plain aluminum? We are having a hard time finding a shop that can paint the ‘54 Jewel for a price we can afford and we really don’t want tackle THAT job in the middle of Phoenix in the summer. Could we keep her “naked”, paintless until we saved enough money to paint her? Granted, we’d then probably have to pay more for taping because the windows and J-rail would be on.   wow. That’s some fine work. |
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violamomof4
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1954 Jewel
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Post by violamomof4 on Oct 7, 2019 7:16:57 GMT -8
His name is Richard  |
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nccamper
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1962 Forester- 1956 Shasta
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Post by nccamper on Oct 8, 2019 4:15:10 GMT -8
We found a guy here in Phoenix who has been polishing airplanes and trailers for 25 years and had quite an established business. Nice! Can you share a photo of the entire camper polished? |
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Post by wisconsinjoe on Feb 18, 2020 8:03:40 GMT -8
Although I know it is frowned upon, but I hand painted my '63 Friendship Vacationaire, using good primer and semi-gloss paint from Sherwin Williams and small fine "hotdog" rollers. The result was very uniform and left a slightly fine textured finish. Although it doesn't shine like an auto paint job, it does a remarkable job of hiding dents and other imperfections. Cost me $200. Hardest part was the masking because we did it with windows and J-rail installed. Plan to do it again on the scratch build I'm into now. You can see pics in another section of this site. Search by my name.
Having said that, I do like the look of an unpainted trailer, even the gray oxidized finish. I'm tempted to polish to a mill finish rather than mirror. A lot less work. Add in some painted stripes or pattern, and it could look great.
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nccamper
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1962 Forester- 1956 Shasta
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Post by nccamper on Feb 18, 2020 13:42:43 GMT -8
Although I know it is frowned upon, but I hand painted my '63 Friendship Vacationaire, using good primer and semi-gloss paint from Sherwin Williams and small fine "hotdog" rollers. I've gotten excellent results with oil based enamel.
As long as it's not latex, it will last and doesn't cost much.
Why not spray? A cheap gun costs $35 and most of us have a compressor. Although I understand on a tiny property with the neighbor's house 15' away.
We spend so much time, effort and money restoring our campers it seems worth the extra prep time to remove the windows and lights. We're talking about an extra two days and $30 for new putty. It also makes masking much easier.
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Post by wisconsinjoe on May 3, 2020 6:51:34 GMT -8
What are thoughts about leaving exterior plain aluminum? We are having a hard time finding a shop that can paint the ‘54 Jewel for a price we can afford and we really don’t want tackle THAT job in the middle of Phoenix in the summer. Could we keep her “naked”, paintless until we saved enough money to paint her? Granted, we’d then probably have to pay more for taping because the windows and J-rail would be on. Hi Friends, You can keep it bare naked like it is, but it will begin to oxidize over time. The aluminum will dull out and start to look grey, but it takes a long time to do that. Here is what it would look like over time.  Cheers, Rod |
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Post by wisconsinjoe on May 3, 2020 6:57:15 GMT -8
Has anyone ever tried to turn new (unpolished) aluminum to an old oxidized gray? I'm building from scratch and considering going with the old weathered look, but with snazzy graphic painted lines. Wondering if that would be just as much work as painting.
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Post by wisconsinjoe on May 3, 2020 7:20:53 GMT -8
There is another way to paint a trailer that usually gets bad reviews: hand painting with a roller. Because I just didn't want to spray, I chose this method for our '63 Friendship Vacationaire. You can find pics by looking up my profile. I went with high quality primer made for aluminum and high quality latex paint, all from Sherwin Williams. I used a smooth 6 inch foam "hot dog" roller. I also chose a satin finish, rather than gloss. With the satin sheen and the very slight dimpling from the roller, there are no glossy reflections that show up dents and other imperfections. Anyway, we like the effect so much that we will probably do the same thing on our scratch build. I am amazed how durable this paint has been. I can scrub off the road dirt and bugs and it looks new after over 5 years.
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