New M101A2

[abm41]

Hello,

First post here, though I've been a "lurker" for a while.

Recently picked up an 80's Parkhurst M101A2 from GL. I'm real happy with it; running gear/brakes/etc. are in great shape and the only real problem is some rust around the welds joining the floor to the front wall. Looks to me like if they had used a different weld design this wouldn't have happened, but oh well. Not a big deal, I can fix.

Paint on the hull is "good enough" for my purposes but the paint on much of the frame and bottom of the hull (underneath) is pretty much shot. So, I'm stripping the trailer apart to repaint the frame, etc. I have a few specific questions:

1. The tongue is made from 2 fabricated boxbeams; hosed them out thoroughly, no real rust issues but I did get some chunks of hard, waxy material, which I think is some kind of wax-based anti-rust coating. Can anyone confirm this? I'm considering trying to re-coat the inside of these boxbeams with Boeshield or another similar product. Has anyone else done this?

2. I've read nothing about the hull being galvanized but in a few spots underneath where the paint has chipped off, it does appear to be coated in some way. Looks sort-of like galvanizing but not quite. Maybe a wash-primer of some type? Can anyone confirm this?

3. Will be priming with Rustoleum. It's cheap and I'm familiar enough with it to know what kind of prep I need to do to yield a good result. Still debating topcoat, though. I'd like the retain the .MIL "look" and sort-of-match the hull color. It's a medium green (kinda crappy and faded in spots), I can't quite tell exactly b/c I'm kinda red-green colorblind. Anyway, looking for a flat green topcoat... considering another Rustoleum product, but what's everyone else using? How's the durability of the Rapco/Gillespie coatings?

BTW... I work with a paint shop that sprays actual CARC and got a quote on doing that, though it would cost several times what I paid for the trailer... rats. Anyway, I'd like to come close to the very-flat gloss level of the CARC we work with, even if the colors aren't exact. Any suggestions?

That's all I got. Thanks in advance for any insight ya'll can provide.

Al in OR

 

[hwcurtice]

Just in case you were wondering.... Pictures do help when asking some questions...

A paint shop that actually uses CARC? What was the quote?

 

[hwcurtice]

Oh, and welcome aboard... Go check out http://www.steelsoldiers.com/showthread.php?77974-PNW-Info-Thread!

 

[abm41]

LOL sorry I know, I need to get some pics up. I'm just not terribly "technological".

The quote was 4 figures. We make .MIL comm enclosures and send them to an outside service supplier for CARC coating. Apparently they weren't willing to give me the good-customer discount.

ETA thanks for the welcome and the link above...

 

[harleyhouse]

Sand the bad spots to feather the surface, Prime then paint.

 

[2deuce]

I have a couple of m101a2 trailers and we wanted them to look better. Upon scraping off the flaking paint, there is this white dust. Is this the galvanizing that has oxidized? Is it dangerous to breathe? Paint that is not flaking will scrape off, with that white powder underneath. This has turned into a bigger job than we figured. It looks like the paint will eventually flake off the entire trailers. I was going to use rustoleum also is it acceptable?

Thanks

 

[abm41]

I have a couple of m101a2 trailers and we wanted them to look better. Upon scraping off the flaking paint, there is this white dust. Is this the galvanizing that has oxidized? Is it dangerous to breathe? Paint that is not flaking will scrape off, with that white powder underneath. This has turned into a bigger job than we figured. It looks like the paint will eventually flake off the entire trailers. I was going to use rustoleum also is it acceptable?

Thanks

This "white dust" is similar to what I saw. I don't THINK it's galvanizing... it's either a leftover of whatever primer they used, or maybe some pretreatment (iron phosphate, some type of chromate... not sure).

When we get aluminum CARC'ed, it first gets a chrome-3 pretreatment. Too much chromate and sometimes you get a white powder buildup in holes, etc.

Either way... I had a change of plans with my M101A2. I'm going to sandblast the whole thing, and have it professionally re-painted, probably with 595 flat forest green CARC.

Other than a little rust repair, the sandblast/CARC combo pretty much negates any metal prep or coating adhesion concerns I had. For what I'll be using the trailer for... basically a lifetime job.

 

[2deuce]

Once we started scraping that white powder was under all the paint and the carc came off easily. I hate to think the whole trailer needs to be blasted. That powder has to come off, I think I'll try a pressure washer on it. I heard of guys painting their MV's with Behr house paint with good results but I'll check that out more before I try it.