Painting the unit

[PattiM]

I am wondering what is the best and cheapest paint option. My son landed a Triple E Surfside from a gravel pit people used for trash. The unit is in mint condition, other than fresh paint. They parked it off to the side but never used it again. He is very excited. His father wanted to cut holes in the floor for ice fishing!!!! I was mortified! Can you believe it? I told him if he was a true ice fisherman he can brave the elements. We are thrilled by the comments we have read here. Full timing sounds great. I was against getting rid of clutter until I got tired of packing boxes and paying for storage.

I lived with four kids in a 20 foot trailer for 6 weeks in Sept Oct. We were so organized. I want that back. All the clothes were on hangers in the shower. No digging through bags and boxes. Each task had to be complete before the next one was started. Putting names on four children s' school supplies on a tiny table was and endurance test! Homework HAD to be done before anyone can eat. We all ended up sleeping in a huge bed across the end of the trailer to keep warm. We showered at the camp site showers, 10 stalls on each side. Everyone at the same time. Walking through frost with sandals is a wake up. Shampoo and soap tossing threw the air. Everyone was done at the same time...no waiting on the bathroom. Supervised teeth brushing.Washing at the laundromat. No time wasted looking in cupboards. Makes me cry, now in a home, no one does homework, laundry is constant, always a fight for one bathroom, I can't find anything.

I enjoy your site thanks for the advice so far. Hoping you have great times on the road!

[Tim M]

Well I think you're asking an interesting question - - the best and cheapest way to paint your trailer....

There are countless number of threads on here on what people used - and what they did to make their camper more enjoyable to them. Many say to use some cleaner and clean it up? Others say to pull all your windows out and start from the ground up....

I guess that's what is great about this site - everyone has their own opinion and for the most part, everyone respects everyones opinion.

I started with this -




I drilled out all my rivets and fiberglassed over my holes. I then sanded down those areas and sanded all rough spots on my camper - and got to here -





Then I found this site: http://rollyourcar.com

I thought I would try this type of technique for my Camper -

so - I went to Menards - and picked up 5 quarts of Marine Top Side paint. 2 black - 3 white... thinking I would do 3 coats of white on top - and 2 coats of black on the bottom. I thinned the paint according to the website listed above and went to town on my 72 Boler.

Is it perfect? - No -

Does it look better than what I started with? Definitely! And most important, is the Wife happy with the changes and is OK to camp in it?? YES -

For the cost - I don't think you can beat the price..... $12.99 for 1 quart of paint, plus $25 in rollers/misc items - -

For me Camping is something I do about 4 weekends a year, so the thought of spending several thousand dollars to do a paint job just wasn't feasable....

So - I have about ~ $100 into my paint job, and I'm sure I'll need to do some light touch-ups as the years go on, but it's well worth it in my opinion.

Here she is today - - (I painted my door all white and it is on, but don't have a photo of it yet)






Best of luck, I (like many) - look forward to seeing some of the changes!

Tim

[Daniel V.]

Hi Patti,

The unit is in mint condition, other than fresh paint.

If I were you, I would definitely find out if I can simply restore the finish before considering paint. If there are no dings or holes on the surface or previous layers of paint, start with Borax, then perhaps a mild rubbing compound, then finish off with a good wax.

Welcome aboard, and don't forget the pictures.