Painting the Chassis

[John W Simmons]

I just spent the last five days under My Trillium 1300, wire brushing, sanding,and scraping the chassis. Then painting it with Tremclad Rust paint. Then spaying the underside of the frame with undercoat. Any one else ever do that??? Or am I the only crazy person to do that???....just wondering...

[Frederick L. Simson]

I just painted the frame of The Eggstacy. It's RED PRIMER for now. When I get enough time for the final coat, that will be RED!

[tarek]

I just finished painting the frame on mine. I used Por-15, great stuff with no sanding needed. Just wear gloves, because nothing takes it off. I was wearing that black paint for almost 2 weeks.

[CD Smith]

I have been treating my frame with Phosphorus Plus, available at Home Depot, one section at a time. It does a fantastic job of removing the rust. After wire brushing and treating to remove rust I have been painting with hammer finish black Rust-Oleum. Looks great on the sections I have completed.

[Loren G. Hedahl]

I just spent the last five days under My Trillium 1300, wire brushing, sanding,and scraping the chassis. Then painting it with Tremclad Rust paint. Then spaying the underside of the frame with undercoat. Any one else ever do that??? Or am I the only crazy person to do that???....just wondering...

Yes and No.

I painted the part you can see without crawling under the trailer, but I appreciate those dedicated folks that do this kind of thing.

If some day I decide to treat and paint the entire frame, I think I would strongly consider removing the body first. I don't know how the time element would work out, but it may not be much different.

Then the bare frame could be tilted and flipped to gain access to all areas, and any beefing up could be done. It may not be too hard to find a plating shop to galvanize it.

This is one of those projects that I consider, but then set aside. I go through this mental questioning -- "Is this possession supposed to serve me, or am I supposed to serve it?"

Since I usually buy used stuff, I am immediately thrust into the second question -- "How much do I have to serve it so that it will serve me as I want to be served?"

[MyronL]

That happens to me, too. I think so hard about all aspects of tackling a project I end up not doing anything because I'm then convinced the tail's wagging my dog. John's got it right. Just DO IT. Finer points be damned! That, at the very least, gets you off square one.

By the way, where do you get Tremclad rust paint. For that matter, what is/where can I find POR-15? Never heard of these.

[Maggie O.]

Yes and No.

I painted the part you can see without crawling under the trailer, but I appreciate those dedicated folks that do this kind of thing.

If some day I decide to treat and paint the entire frame, I think I would strongly consider removing the body first. I don't know how the time element would work out, but it may not be much different.

Then the bare frame could be tilted and flipped to gain access to all areas, and any beefing up could be done. It may not be too hard to find a plating shop to galvanize it.

This is one of those projects that I consider, but then set aside. I go through this mental questioning -- "Is this possession supposed to serve me, or am I supposed to serve it?"

Since I usually buy used stuff, I am immediately thrust into the second question -- "How much do I have to serve it so that it will serve me as I want to be served?"

I feel the same way. I've been wanting to take the camper off the frame and do all this and replace the axle. I think of preparing for some future expedition. Maybe Alaska. Or just to know I've done everything I can to make it solid and reliable. Then again...enough already, let's go camping.

[CliveAlive]

...
By the way, where do you get Tremclad rust paint. For that matter, what is/where can I find POR-15? Never heard of these.

Myron, I dont' know about the Tremclad, but POR-15 is well used by auto restorers. I got mine from http://www.ipdusa.com

and plan on using it on the frame of my Boler also.

[MKohlman]

Myron, I dont' know about the Tremclad, but POR-15 is well used by auto restorers. I got mine from http://www.ipdusa.com

and plan on using it on the frame of my Boler also.

You can also buy POR15 Direct at www.por15.com

I restored the underside of our Burro about 3 years ago by coating the Frame with POR15 Silver (Silver has the most solids in it) and then topping the entire underside with two coats of Herculiner. The nice thing about POR15 is it actually works better with a small amount of surface rust on the frame, so other than brushing off loose rust/dirt, prepping an old frame is pretty simple.

This has worked incredibly well, with no rust on the frame after 3 years and a few of the mild-soft spots in the original floor fixed by generously soaking the wood in the Herculiner.

Like Fred though, I too wore some POR15 (and some Herculiner to boot) for a couple of weeks. Seriously, if you get this stuff on you will be wearing it until the underlying skin flakes off.

- Michael

[Yves Pelchat]

I just spent the last five days under My Trillium 1300, wire brushing, sanding,and scraping the chassis. Then painting it with Tremclad Rust paint. Then spaying the underside of the frame with undercoat. Any one else ever do that??? Or am I the only crazy person to do that???....just wondering...

If the weather permits, this week, i'll be doing the same to my Bigfoot.

Yves.

[Don Meyer]

If the weather permits, this week, i'll be doing the same to my Bigfoot.

Yves.

I would recommend against using undercoat on the bottom of the floor. It can trap water. I brush polyester resin on mine.
Don Meyer

[Donna D.]

And I'd recommend NOT using rubberized undercoating material on the parts of the frame subject to cracking. If the undercoating flexes it may hide areas that are starting to come apart..until it's too late (or at a bad time...as if there are any good times?)

[Nick]

por 15

Why do I need a "topcoat" over POR-15 anyway?
You don't unless the POR-15 finish will often be exposed to sunlight. UV rays tend to discolor POR-15, and so it must be topcoated for use in sunlight areas. For example, if you are using POR-15 on your car frame, you won't need a topcoat, except on areas of the frame that may extend beyond the body, such as frame horns for bumper brackets.

[james kent]

I try to paint the frame with tremclad every two to three years. I guess it gives me a reason to get black on nose, elbows and hair. I'm also the type that has mustard stains on my shirt after hotdogs. It does help to keep it lookong good and slowing the rust.

[Andrew Gibbens]

I'm also the type that has mustard stains on my shirt after hotdogs. It does help to keep it lookong good and slowing the rust.

My shirts don't seem to rust at all - have I bought the wrong type?

Andrew

[james kent]

Good one.
I also get my sentences in the wrong order and can't spell

[John W Simmons]

Myron Leski asked, where can He buy Tremclad paint??? In Canada here, We get it at just about any hardware store. I got mine at Home Depot. It's made for painting rusted, and pitted metal, and needs no primer. If You can't find it at Home Depot in the good old USA, I am sure there will be something equally as good, or maybe better. Good Luck to Yves Pelchat on his project this weekend......let us all know how You made out......

[John & Sandy M]

One of my first projects, after bringing our '99 Scamp to it's new home, was to inspect/repaint the frame. Most of the areas looked fairly good and free of rust. Repainted using black Rustolium spray paint. There were several areas where surface rust was evident. I wire brushed and sprayed these with 95% zinc primer followed by the Rustolium. There were a few fittings on the door of the Scamp showing rust (and leaving a rust stain down the side of the hull). I removed all the surface rust, masked these and sprayed with the 95% zinc primer. Still looking good after two seasons.

I use the same treatment on some of the steel components on my boat/trailer which is used exclusively in salt water and it holds up very well.

[Benny K]

Rustoleum and Tremclad do about the same job....they are both rust paints....Benny

[davidlebrun]

I painted my frame with rustolem (sp) last weekend, just power washed off the loose
rust and painted.

Still have some paint on my toes, lol.

david