Chapte 6>Jack, Wheel and Trailer Painting

Step 6-Trailer Jack and Wheel: 5/5-Yesterday I received the trailer jack, I had received the wheel on Sunday, and I went ahead and installed it. You may notice the old one was totally rusted. I went ahead and sanded the area down using the new detail sander (The Beast), the Dremel which worked quite well for the real tight spots and then finished it off with the pneumatic sander. That one did the trick! I was ready to paint it!. 

I got motivated and began to paint the front part of the trailer where the jack is located.

Step 7-Painting the front of the trailer and More….I was going to brush on the pint of Rust-Olem black paint but decided to use the Black Phantom paint instead. After all, I was going to only use it just to paint the lower unit fin. The last can I purchased I ended up giving it to my friend Art. That was over five years ago and I also have the Chromatic Primer. I had to unclog the can to make it work and once I did, it was as if I had just purchased it.  But before that I had to cut two locks I had secured the spare tire with.

I sanded down the area using my new Detail Sander (The Beast), the Dremel Tool which worked quite well and then finished it all off with the pneumatic sander.

 Afterward, I was a bit apprehensive about spray painting so close to the boat but made sure the wind was not blowing into the boat and covered the area with tape and newspaper. 

I've only used that can of primer once to just paint the scratched section of my lower unit and have had it for over six years. Once I thoroughly covered the areas I did not want to spray paint I went ahead and sprayed the primer on and then applied two coats of the Black Phantom spray paint. 

I used a pint of regular black paint and painted the front, then the Winch Stand, then the trailer body all the way to the tires on both sides! I finally ran out of paint and I did not expect that! The trailer looks great and it was relatively easy. The worst part of it was that I did not sand the old paint down, just cleaned it with Acetone. I have always seen a layer of yellow under the trailer’s black paint and always thought the trailer was made of fiberglass. It turned out that the yellow was actually the primer….who would have thought to paint an aluminum trailer BLACK!?

Although I did not do a thorough job the results are great! I purchased a can of primer and black topside paint and will be finishing once I take care of all the console work. I am leaving the trailer painting towards the end of the project so that I won't be standing on the trailer once I paint it.

So, it looks great but I can’t stand the condition that the winch is in, sooo…. I ordered a new one for 45$!!!

I hope this brings it all back to speed. Tomorrow I plan to attempt to lay down the gel coat and seal the prow. That’s what started this whole project in the first place. After that I want to wipe down the rust marks with the Muriatic acid, wash down the interior, wax it, and install the cutting boards and teak steps. I will not do the hatches till I get the spider web cracks and nicks that are in the coolers and under the seat. I am going to also do the big crack that is in the front of the boat and once I do that it’s time to tackle the electrical part that includes the lights, temperature, and fuel gauges….oh yeah...B.O.A.T=Bail Out Another Thousand-Tight Lines.....