Paint...start to finish

[Rusty]

So here we go....Part 1 of the saga and believe me it was a saga...

If you use the info here it will save you a ton of time...I thought it through for a couple years and took alot of notes along the way before the big begin

This is what I started with....1970 10' NCO, my grandparents bought it to retire in...they first got an 8'er...came home after a couple weeks and traded it in for the 10. My sister bought it from Granny and I bought it from Sister Anne. It has seen alot of miles and things were pretty well worn when we started...upper paint had all but disappeared from the sun exposure. Vinyl was worn out and a few pieces of the woodwork were "weathered"....

A couple things to notice on this photo...the stairs...a common way of entry...changes dramatically during this process...

the vents on the lower section...also changes...new refer install required new vent configuration..

And....yes, that's "Jake the alligator man" from Long Beach on the lower section rear...sis has a house in Seaview so we venture up that way now and then.

Note the extent of the paint failure...no UV stabilization on the siding paint used at the build time in the late 60's early 70's.

Note the emblems....they take a change too and the little bean shaped patch up front top...brother in law goes to the bank with bikes on the cab of their truck...voila...I left it as a reminder

 

[Rusty]

First....you're going to need a dry location for the winter and about 10 or 15 pallets...good pallets, solid...non of those flimsy flexible shims. The camper will stay on the pallets for a good portion of the prep...If you're going to do any interior remodeling you will need the floor supported. These campers weren't designed to be left on the jacks and walked in.

1. Take off the emblems, bar lights front and back and the clearance lights....if the light bases look good..save them and get new covers..easily found at your local O'briens,Kmart or most auto parts shops.

2. Remove the drip rails, front and back...try and retain these...they're difficult to replace...you've heard of hens teeth...these are hens molars...discard the screws...you'll be replacing all the screws. clean the drip rails and find a good spot on the wall to hang them up...it'll be a while before you get them back on.

3. paint survey....if it's mostly degraded on the top..make up your mind right now to sand all loose and even some adhered paint off...most will go. You'll be needing wet or dry sand paper....auto paint shop will have this material...start with 220 grit on a small rubber block. you may need some 100 grit and 150 grit as well. The rubber will take the water and hold the paper well with the small nail retainers or clips.

4. remove the eyebrows on all windows...if they're in reasonable shape they will do. If they're blasted or smashed they'll go...I used to have a link for replacements...I'm going to have to locate a new one...short ones only are available and one has gone out of business.

That's all for now...I'm going to try and find a new way to size photos..most so far have been too big for attaching....565k...I'll see what I can do about that....In the mean time...go get those pallets...the camper needs to be solidly set in place....no work on the jacks should be attempted.

I'll add a bit every day or so and edit these starters as needed.

 

[Rusty]

Here you can see most of the paint stripped off the upper and some off the lower sections, blue bodywork putty applied and sanded. The upper photo shows the additional screws which split the spacing of the radius to tighten up the hold on the caulking. This was a learning experience. Knowing what I know now...remove the light fixtures to start and save some time and grief.

pictures are now on my gallery where the limited size for posting doesn't apply

 

[Rusty]

These next photos are after the first spot priming was applied and additional putty work was done...the green primer is a two part acid etching primer formulated for aluminum aircraft skin. New eyebrows were primed and installed with new screws and a bit tighter spacing. Sealant behind the eyebrows was a 1/8 inch butyl glazing bead which comes in rolls from your local glass shop.

again...photos are in my gallery

 

[Rusty]

These next shots are of the primer being applied. All the work was done outside with drop cloths over the front of the garage and the ground soaked to prevent dust. It's a rough location to apply paint but this urethane drys so quickly everything came out just fine.


go to gallery for pics

 

[Rusty]

The next shots are of prepping the bottom half for the sanding sealer, priming the bottom with the grey sanding sealer and finally a rest.....this priming job was completed in one day including all the masking....by your truly and I was one tired puppy by the end of the day...hence the very important..resting shot.

it's a shame the pictures are too big for inclusion here anymore but...go to my gallery...

 

[Rusty]

The next shots are of the prep for the final coat on the top half, the finish coat and the masking for the paintng of the bottom half. Note on the masking shots that all of the tape holding up the 9" masking paper is taped to the window masking or the handle and light fixture masking. that's because the top was wet when the masking was applied....no touchy...no messy....very carefully applied

go to my gallery for pics

 

[Rusty]

In this sequence of shots you can see the masking in place to prevent the overspray from getting on the upper half. It's important to take your time placing the masking and making sure it's fairly stable before shooting the bottom half. The full shots were taken after the bottom half was painted but show the masking in place and not displaced at all....now we dry for 1 day...no touchy

 

[Rusty]

Now we remove and clean up....and replace all the new lenses, repainted emblems....et al. Dont forget the butyl bead behind the light bars...and make sure when you re-install the lenses that the drain slot is down

easy as 1,2,3

 

[Rusty]

as a final....all screws were replaced prior to paint...I masked the glass and painted the window frames...they are normally mill finish but they look nice painted. I modified the camper to fit on the new truck square before the paint...so the "adjusting" was tidyed up. There were a couple places I would pay more attention to...the front of the camper at the bottom edge of the top half...after a few years the paint has bubbled and I discovered I didn't get all the corrosion from the road time...this camper has alot of road time and a good part at the beach...salt air. Pay close attention to that area and the underside and screw holes for all the small plaques on the rear. All holes received a small dab of urethane caulk and on the tip of the new screw going in to seal each hole....so many screws.

and again....without the technical assistance of Steve McGoverny in Modesto at 209-575-4570 this would not have taken place. He owns a body shop supply company and his technical knowledge of aluminum, fillers and paints was and is...(every time I look at the camper)...worth its weight in gold...and I mean every word of it

 

[chnlisle]

Beautiful job!

 

[Linda N]

Impressive! Great to see the detailed discussion and photographs. Appreciate you sharing.

 

[banderswipe]

Great paint job Rusty, Epic project.

 

[Rusty]

Thought I might bring this back up...just in case some of yous guys want to paint yours

 

[BluesideUp]

Good thought, she's a classic and good for another 40!

 

[Henricksen]

Thank you Rusty for the work in putting together that very interesting and valuable record of pictures and words about redoing the outside of an Alaskan. Though I won't be doing an operation like yours, parts of procedure will sure be helpful for me.

 

[senor]

Hi Rusty, any chance of looking re-posting the pictures?

Respectfully,

CAPT Martin

 

[Rusty]

The size of the pictures eliminated them from an upgrade to the site....so they are now found in my gallery...I'll try and sort them out to fit the text....a little later

OK...there's a bunch up under the folder "Paint"

There's more but I kind of thinned them down to the most relevant...

out of order...I'll have to work on that

I painted the window frames...seemed appropriate...since they were raw aluminum...took prime well and the paint has held up nicely

Only one thing....all three family owners are big on beach time....minor salts persisted and have eaten through both the prime and paint by oxidizing the aluminum under....minor detailing needed after 10 years...other than that the paint has held up extremely well...still has gloss....but that's probably from all the waxing....just kidding

 

[Moose Dog]

Thanks for sharing this info, Rusty! Excellent reference

 

[Rusty]

a little "post paint"

after 8 years of road travel and a begillion trips to the beach she has started to show a little wear....the pre priming surface really needs a nuetralizer of some sort...I'll do a little investigation into that...but...

alot of our travels and my sisters travels on the camper before me and grannys travels before both...were at the beach...so a minor salt corrosion is starting to show up as minor pitting and under surface corrosion...most in the bottom 6 inches of the top section only so it may be road gravel pitting in combination with the salt but it's there and showing up in bits and pieces

I clear the corrosion as I see it but haven't decided what to do with the 6" band yet.....90% on the front and back of the top section only

Maybe a Marine Corps wrap....8" wide....with C-130's....now we're talking.....i'm sure the other half will have a little something to say