This was a stupid idea...

These gutters were only used for a year or two,  then Airstream smartened up and made the gutter longer so it didn't dump all the rain right on the edge of the window.  Talk about a leak factory!  No wonder all my leaks are at the windows.  There is a ton of sealant on all the window seams on this trailer.  

I'm in a quandary, I really wanted to keep the outside of this trailer as original as possible but these are proving to be a nightmare.   I'm actually considering replacing them with the earlier eyebrows. The eyebrow style was discontinued in 1963,  so theoretically my trailer would have had them if it had been built earlier in the year. Okay, I'm justifying the decision a little....

But the thought of removing them all and replacing with the ones VTS carries is daunting.  Especially when I hear the white paint they come with is nearly impossible to remove.   Is there a way to modify them?  I have the tools but.....

What say you? 

Since I can't seem to......

....stop the leaks,  I decided to do the next best thing, Seal the floor!    Actually, I did this as soon as the weather warmed up so this post is long overdue.

These were my tools of choice.  I've always liked the West System.  It's a two part epoxy but the handy pumps make it foolproof even for a beginner.  Five parts resin to one part hardener but the pumps take care of the measuring. One pump from each dispenses the perfect ratio. 

It was a bit of a slow start as I noticed the neck of the large pump had a crack in it and I had to McGyver it with a hose clamp.  It soon broke anyway and the spring in the pump fell into the can,  I spent 15 minutes with a coat wire fishing it out and then called my local boat place to get a replacement pump.   Like I said, slow start!

I needed to fair (level) the floor first, fill all the holes from the elevator bolts, and fill the plywood seams.  So I mixed up batches of 12 pumps each, added the 407 filler, mixed again until it looked like peanut butter.  I used a putty knife covered with masking tape to fill in all areas and stripped off the tape after each batch so I could start with a fresh blade.

I had a bunch of plastic mixing cups, which I set aside after each batch, when the epoxy dries it's easy to pop out the hardened stuff and reuse the container,   Some places needed a second layer, which is important to do before it cures completely, otherwise this product can get something called an amine blush.   Which requires mechanical removal in order for the coats to bond.   Which would suck!

The next day, I sanded it all down and gave it three coats of the epoxy, again all done within a couple of hours to avoid the dreaded amine blush. 

I'm still going to have to go back and refair some areas and I missed one of the bolts, see right in the center?  Gheesh, how'd I miss that!  
 I also had a slight problem with bubbles in the epoxy, evidently this was caused by the temperature increase inside the trailer during the curing phase.  I probably should have waited for a cloudy day but they are cosmetic and won't show under the finished flooring anyway.

After the fairing and sanding

And after the three coats of epoxy.  I'm happier than a slinky on an escalator. So bring on the rain! 

My helper chose to spend the day with me, well actually I tied him up .....so forced to spend the day with me would be slightly more accurate (notice where he chewed through the  leash?) . Good thing I did too, cause look what saunters out of the woods and parades right in front of him?  

My trailer was fully chocked or I'm pretty sure Finn would have reinacted this:

Without the bike of course, Finn's smart but not that smart!!

Painting the tongue and bumper

Well, it turns out polishing is not something that can be done for 8 hours a day.  I average 3 hours and at the end of that my hands look like crab claws!  It's really not easy to type that way! I know    .....Excuses, excuses ... The truth is I've been ignoring this blog because I am so far behind in catching it up.

I had my tongue and bumper covered with black plastic since we brought Moonraker home, evidently POR 13 is sensitive to UV exposure.  So as soon as the temps began to rise, I wanted to topcoat them. The step also needed to be topcoated.

I decided to use the POR Sterling silver paint.  I wanted something that was extra tough and hopefully last for a few years.  At $27 a PINT, this stuff better!   I also bought the POR self-etching primer because at this point the bumper and tongue had fully cured.

I always tape off the rim when I pour paints, it keeps the channel clean and its especially important with the Sterling Silver paint.

Evidently the paint adheres so strongly to metal that it will actually glue the lid on permanently! I put a piece of heavy plastic under rim between uses and didn't have a problem



I cleaned with Marine Clean, scuffed up all the surfaces with 300 grit, taped off anything I didn't want to get paint on ( I will return to this point later.  I know, you can't wait! ), painted one medium coat with the primer and a foam brush, waited thirty minutes for it to dry and then did 2 coats with the sterling silver.  Voila!

No pictures of the bumper cause I'm an airhead

My impressions?   I'm glad I used the primer which was light gray in color.  The sterling silver paint was like water, very hard to get a even coverage. If I had been painting it over the black POR I think it would have been more difficult.  I got a mostly streak free finish but I understand why people complain about this paint being streaky.

Would I use it again?  I don't think so.

First it's expensive -  $27 for the paint, $30 for the primer plus shipping!  And honestly I've gotten a better finish out of rattle cans.    And as I already own a 4 stage HVLP Fuji Paint sprayer (I collect tools the way old ladies collect cats!)  I probably would have been better off with an automative paint.

Remember that story I alluded to earlier?  Well when I removed the painters tape (the delicate stuff no less)  it actually removed the so called powder coat on my Bull dog jack!I just ran out there and took a picture of it in the poring rain so you could see. I'm nice like that.

 Powder coat that scrapes off with my fingernail?   Good job Bulldog!  I deliberately chose this jack because it has metal gears and is made in the USA.  Sigh, I think I'll rattle can it and see what holds up better!



On a side note My helper turned one recently..... Happy Birthday Finnegan!