I have an old steel bottomed car hauler that is about 25 years old. The old paint that came on it is basically missing. It's sort of a rusty color now. I am needing to do some long overdue maint. on it and I need to paint it. It lives outside, so no cover at this time. I don't wanna spend a grand on automotive paint. Does anyone have any real life experience with implement paint or something else that will last another 20 years? I plan on sand blasting it and then shooting it. I would really prefer to not primer it, just due to cost, but I understand the need for it. Any recommendations?
I’ll be following along... I need to do the same to mine since my trailer is almost 30 years old now and looks bad.
Id go to tractor supply and buy a gallon of paint and just roll it on, more durable that way and should hold up better than spraying.
I've heard (and I'm gonna try it out) that you can use Rustoleum thinned with acetone and catalyzed with enamel hardener you can get from tractor supply. There is a thread... I can't find it now, but the one poster in the thread used this mixture on some Harley Davidson tins that he sprayed with a purple Harbor Freight HVLP gun and they came out beautiful.
While it all comes down to surface prep, and the key word being cheap, blast it, hit it with a coating of epoxy primer (brush or rolling it is fine as well) then some Tractor paint of your choosing, color and brand. TremClad, Rustoleum... Good base gives a support to the topcoat, that will ensure longevity.
YUP!!! Tractor Supply is the way to go. Get a Gallon of Majic Brand Tractor paint ( I assume Black) and a can of the hardener. you don't need to use the hardener, but it makes it set up and dry so much faster. Roll it out or spray, but you will need the reducer to spray. Just don't use a different brand of primer under it if you prime any of it. buy the Majic brand primer, its cheap. All in if you got a gallon of paint, a gallon of primer, the hardener and the reducer, you are right around $100 bucks. And the stuff is tough. I will be respraying my trailer next spring with it, and all the cars i have built in the last 10 years have had the Majic Gloss black paint on the chassis and suspension parts.
All the above. ^^^ Implement paint with the catalyst is what I'd use. About $60/gallon, the catalyst is $20 and you can reduce it with pretty much whatever you like. It's VERY viscous, I usually reduce it until it "looks" right. The catalyst makes it more UV stable, it lays down really smooth. Shoot it with as cheap a Harbor Freight gun as you can get, or you can even roll it on (it's a trailer after all) with foam rollers and tip it off with foam brushes, throw 'em away when they get loaded up. If you want to go "high dollar", can't beat Rust-O-Leum, use the implement paint catalyst in it. It's more UV stable than the implement paint I've found. Either are fine for a chassis, or a crappy old car trailer.
Rust Bullet https://www.rustbullet.com/ It's a POR and it sticks to glass. Wire brush the loose stuff off by hand and paint. They have roller, brush or spray. I've done all three but prefer spraying. It is a different kind of paint so all your PPE and clean up right away...once it is set up, it is hard, stuck, no getting it off...
Rustoleum - It works. I've been using it for years on floor pans, engine blocks, engine compartments, trunks, wheels, engine pulleys and brackets. Mixed as stated above.
Do you want durable or pretty? My vote is for good ol' Rustoleum oil-base. Don't thin it if possible, and a brush or roller application will ensure film thickness better than spraying unless you use an airless. And don't catalyze it; it'll take forever to fully dry, but will retain its 'plasticity' far longer that way and will be very resistant to chipping. When I was a kid, my mother decided to spiff up a couple of early '50s lawn chairs. Didn't want those new-fangled flimsy-looking aluminum ones that had started appearing. These were those heavy-duty all-steel ones, weighed a ton but the original sprayed paint had disappeared and they had pretty heavy surface rust. She wire-brushed the loose rust off, then brush-applied a couple of coats of Rustoleum on 'em. 40 years later, they were unchanged other than a bit of chalkiness. A little rust where the paint was worn away from dragging them around on the concrete patio and at a few chips, but otherwise still solid. This impressed me enough that it's still my go-to if protection is the most desired aspect.
I use either Diamond Vogal or PPG industrial urethane single stage, you can have it mixed whatever color makes you happy. Covers in two coats and will not change color for years. The last I bought it was well below $200 per gallon mixed (catalyst and paint ) but that was yesterday so who knows…
I have a sandblasting booth but save a ton of time by running over everything with an angle grinder fitted with the appropriate flap disc beforehand. About 10 years ago I had to clear out my deceased Uncle's shop. He had a few cases of Interlux boat enamel. I'm still using it and find it to be great for brushing on trailers, floorpans chassis or whatever. It iseems to be chip resistant, durable, hard as nails and hasn't peeled off. I don't think it is priced in the range you are looking for but for me, would be worth it for the longevity factor.
Iron Trap Matt uses Eastwood rust encapsulator, but that's probably more expensive than the Tractor Supply Stuff. I checked, $155 a gallon.
I actually will be playing with some of the Gloss Black Majic brand paint to experment with spraying on a replacement rear fender for my 39. The Black is a dead on match to early ford black. I sprayed it on the firewall of my 39 in white and was able to wet sand and buff it out after a month or so of curing. Came out great. Hoping the fender does as well since its such a good match.
I remember hearing good things about Tremclad and being able to roll it on. I thought about using it on my open trailer but never looked into it or how much it costs. Maybe in another life time.
Here I painted this frame 2 weeks ago. I used a wire cup on my 4" grinder & cleaned it the best I could. I used a hand held wire brush to reach hard to get to spots. Then I used a brush & painted everything with ospho, let it dry. Then I used the same cheap nylon $1 brush to paint the frame. The oil base paint I applied DTM with no primer, no thinning, no hardener. ... straight out of the can. You can see properly prepared the paint really does lay down & dry smooth. If you look at the cross member. Looking at the frame you can actually see where the oil base paint is eating the nylon brush. Just trying to give you a idea how the paint will react when applied. A quality brush & roller for your trailer would make a nice paint job. In fairness I only painted 1 coat on top, still need to crawl around the bottom and finish. Busy prepping more pieces for paint. In the end everything will have 2 coats with a good brush & 2nd coat will smooth out good enough for me. Here is white paint from tractor supply that I sprayed 3 years ago with the $15 harbor freight gun. The building is 16'x16' I built it with used metal & 3 different colors also the raised garden bed ... I'm very pleased with the coverage. I was able to get 2 good coats on building & enough left over for the 4'x16' raised bed .... Obvious it is seeing weather. Is only 3 years old but imho, looks just as good today & this photo I took just now to show you the conditions. End of October garden is dying down Here is real life experience with the paint ... I got caught off guard 2 years ago when I painted the front frame .... looks fine today. I probably would not use the paint on a $50k Hot Rod, but a beater with a heater, or a car hauler ...
I painted my open trailer in 2020 with RustCoat which I think I is rustoleum rebranded and sold at the hardware store. I pressure washed it, then ran a wire wheel on the grinder over it to remove any flaky stuff. Then I painted it with a roller and a cheap brush. No thinner or hardener used. I painted it in the shade of a tree and the trailer had a few hours for the paint to flash off alittle. when the sun moved a few hours later the trailer got full afternoon sun and the paint baked on and got rock hard. 2 years of sitting outside and it still looks as good as the day I painted it.
Tractor Supply Majik is the stuff for us po boys 'n tight wallets. Use hardener and it shines like glass.
KBS Black top. Had a drip on cement floor, tried to scrape it off after it dried, the cement came off with the KBS. This is what we use on frames at work. BlackTop BlackTop is a permanent, moisture-cured, single stage, UV stable coating. BlackTop is a high-performance protective coating specifically formulated to withstand dulling and fading caused by prolonged sunlight exposure. BlackTop is primarily used for topcoating surfaces previously sealed with RustSeal or any other paint/primer application, but BlackTop also works well as a DTM bare metal coating.
Rustoleum exterior enamel has always been a good product for utility pieces like trailers and metal. $15.98 qt at Lowes. HRP
A wire brush and rust oleum or similar product. Add the hardener of ya want. Dont over think it. If you can blast it, use and industrial epoxy.
I've painted farm equipment with International Harvester paint from the dealer and while colors are limited that is some tough paint. Tough enough that farm workers washing cow manure off the tractor with a pressure washer almost every day didn't blow it off.
That would be me! I used Rustoleum with Van Sickle brand tractor paint hardner thinned with Acetone. I’m not sure or the long term shine of it, but since it’s a motorcycle and is kept in my basement, I’ll wax it at least once a year and I’ll bet it will be fine.
I’ve used the Majic brand of tractor paint and the Van Sickle brand. Majic is more widely available, but the Van Sickle shines better and sprays better in my limited experience.
I can vouch for the TS Majic as well, painted a frame with it 7/8 years ago and it’s been outside, uncovered since. No primer, just the reducer/hardener from TS as well. I’d use it again, but I’m not sure if it’s a Ca thing or my TS, but it’s not on the shelf here anymore.
I like this stuff. You can get it at north 40 or tractor supply. If you thin it and use the hardener it sprays like car paint.
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