Nice work! Don’t get me started on my distain for HOAs.
Bart
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HOAs are the debil 
. Only ever lived in one and what made it doubly worse, was we were in our early 20s living amongst a bunch of blue haired retired Karen’s from up north. Definitely was not a good fit.
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Lucky my HOA leaves me alone, in fact I have three neighbors that are redoing larger offshore boats and they don’t bother them. But I agree we’ve bought a piece of land and will be building on it in the next few yesrs
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Finished prep for and rattle canning color onto the trailer frame this past weekend. I spent Saturday cutting off the factory jack housing from the coupler assembly, grinding the remnants that weld down, wrapping up the rust removal and after a wipe-down with rubbing alcohol; spraying everything with two more coats of acid-etch primer. Saturday afternoon I painted the leaf spring assemblies with a couple of layers of Rust-Reformer and then a finish coat of matte clear.
Sunday after church, I taped off the springs and then went over the rest of the frame with VFN and then ULF “grit” scuff pads, wiped it down with alcohol and then started spraying the first of three layers of color coat… Rustoleum “Universal” Black Stainless.
I’ve used Rustoleum for a lot of different paint projects over the years and this was the first time I’ve encountered a problem. Their Black Stainless includes a very fine metal flake and it did not want to lay down evenly; even with thorough mixing / shaking before spraying it. Unfortunately, this resulted in the color coat looking somewhat blotchy in several spots, where the flake came out densely instead of being evenly dispersed. I got an extension from the HOA, told them I need one more week to install the new lights and safety chains, so I’m wondering if I should go to the effort of scuffing it one more time, adding another layer of color coat and then a couple of passes with semi-gloss or satin clear to try and even out the blotchiness.
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I say ehh.. it’s a trailer and from 5’ away nobody will notice. And in a years time, especially if using it in saltwater, it’ll look like hell any way. I epoxy/graphite mine, dry launch exclusively, and rust is popping through in spots. It’s just the nature of the beast.
Yeah I would agree bud, no one pays that much attention to the trailer anyway
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I hear what y’all are laying down but the uneven finish is making my inner perfectionist itch something fierce.
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I understand that as well..lol..
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Here on the Texas Coast, we use a product on our trailer springs and any other non-galvanized steel called Corrosion-X HD. I called the guys that make it in Garland, TX, and they assured me it would last six months, dunking in the salt. It has. It’s a thick, gooey coating that doesn’t easily come off. If you touch it, you’ll have it on your hand. Pricey, at $26.50 for a spray can, but it works. The regular Corrosion-X is thin, and won’t stay on long in salt. Two days ago, I did my semi-annual application, after rotary wire wheeling the old stuff off. It got on my legs, and I had to use paint thinner to get it off. Soap and water didn’t touch it.
The Australians use hot-dip galvanized mono-leaf springs on their trailers, but they don’t seem to be available in the US. Galvanizing and tempering springs seem to not work well together, due to temperatures. Rust never sleeps! My $.02 TJ
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Thanks, I will look into that stuff. Sounds similar to what rust-belt folks spray on their vehicle underbody to try and prevent rot from wintertime road salt.
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Installed a set of temporary magnetic lights (just zip tied the wiring) and got the trailer moved to my father in-law’s shop on Saturday. Also got the kiddo to help me wrassle the boat onto on a set of heavy duty sawhorses while we were there. I’ll get the fenders refinished over the next couple of weeks and then work on installing them, new bunks and LED lights shortly thereafter.
Also, I went and checked out an outboard engine yesterday; a 2006 Johnson 15hp 2-stroke. It’s in pristine condition so I left a deposit and will pay the balance, & then bring it home, later today.
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I miss those old Johnson engines. I must have had half a dozen, none newer than a couple decades old or older. Still have an old 1960 something seahorse 6hp that I havent touched in years and am a little afraid to look at it!
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It’s all coming together. Be fishing in no time.
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