Rozboon wrote:
I gotta say man... it looks like a boat! Causing me to have all sorts of unproductive thoughts about what I could achieve in the back yard.
Keep it coming, I'm really enjoying following along. The rawness of it ("this bit sucked" etc) is fascinating. |
Yea I'm getting excited just looking at it. And it's certainly an interesting project. I've followed a lot of boat builds from craftsmen to regular guys. Every single one of them has had issues, both big and small. Worse was the one in Aussie where the ply delaminated due to a rare manufacturing defect. It was already glassed in on the bottom. He junked it and started again. Manufacturer replaced the whole lot of ply. Assuming I keep on at it and keep plugging through the issues I should end up with a boat more seaworthy than any I could buy for the same price. That's the plan anyways.
Came to a decision on the trailer. Will get it gritblasted over the back half behind the wheels and a few other places where rust has built up. Then two pack epoxy. Plenty of car restorations forums where people compare it to POR15 and other methods. Long story short: Superior for applying on a clean surface. POR15 is better for painting over existing rust. I'll go with epoxy as I already have it and are familiar with it.
Degrease and clean, grind or sand sharp corners to a 1mm or 2mm radius then gritblast (40min drive away) then drive home, degrease again, dry with paper towels, sand again (optional), roller coat of neat epoxy, sand it into the surface then two more coats of Aluminium filled epoxy as a barrier coat and UV filter. The Aluminium powder both hardens and further waterproofs the surface. Sanding into the surface helps bond it into the metal, and also helps remove any microscopic surface rust remaining.
Then bedliner over areas exposed to UV and road stones etc.
I'd like to Zinc Spray the Metal immediately after the grit blasting, but I think that would be taking a risk with respect to interfering with the strength of the bond. There are zinc filled 2 part epoxy primers, but I can't see any near me. Also expensive I'm willing to bet. Single pack epoxy paint is fine for light use, but not really for a boat trailer dipped in salt on a regular basis.
accordig to WEST system I have a four hour window but ASAP is better