I just purchased a used horse trailer from my friend. While it is mechanically fine and passed inspection, it is a little bit “Sanford and Son” in appearance. I was toying with the idea fixing the minor rust spots and repaint it.
I know this will be a labor and time intensive project,but I was wondering if anyone else on the board has done this themselves. Any hints you could offer?
Thanks!
car paint is some awfully smelly stuff. your best bet is to look into a car painting job and ask them how much they charge you. they got the equipment to both spray and stay safe.
As an alternative, I went to my local Maaco - paid ~$750 and they did a great job.
did it our selves
We repainted our '88 two horse a year ago at home, but we have a heavy duty air compressor, sand blaster and paint sprayer. We sand blased with walnut shells, as sand was a bit rough. We primed it and used tractor paint (white) from Farm and Tractor SUpply, which was on sale. Three gallons did the whole trailer inside and out. We then added some orange trim with expensive car paint we had left over. The whole project took two weekends, and was pretty labor intensive. A year later, still holding up nicely. 
To be effective as a DIY job you’ll need a safe place to spray and decent spray equipment. (pressure feed HVLP style guns worked best for me) As far as paints either marine epoxy or Imron (polyurethane) paints will have the best durability for sever use in a trailer.
Preparation is the key. All metal must be cleared of rust, dirt and loose paint or the paint/primer will not adhere properly. Existing finish needs to be scuffed up before new paint is applied.
There are some marine grade paints that can be applied with a brush or roller and these may be fine for the interior of the trailer but for the best finish on the exterior I would spray.
Personally I painted one myself a few years ago for a neighbor. Did the interior in white epoxy and the exterior in lucern blue (it matched the truck). Had to rent the sandblaster and it took about a month working on weekends (had to work around the weather) but it was a fun project and a change from doing cars. 
Okay - I used to own a trailer just like that - sturdy …but certainly not worth investing the $750.00 for a paint job. I am a do-it-yourselfer …in some cases and this was one of them. This is what I did every 2-3 years.
Very important - wear a surgical type mask so you do not inhale paint chips!!! …trust me - the first time I did this I was hacking up paint for 2 days…YUCK!!
I used my electric sander, one that could be used with one hand, climbed up a ladder and started on the roof of the trailer, sanding away all the loose paint and any rust spots. When I was finished with the roof, I worked my way down the sides. I used a leaf blower to get rid of any excess paint dust. I bought paint specifically for metal and painted it with a rather fine brush, being very careful not to get too much paint on at a time. I had to do 2 coats - but it is important for it not to drip especially for me since my trailer was white on the top and black on the sides! I used a high gloss paint and was very pleased with the results.
I know you don’t know me - but I am really picky!..but was willing to do what needed to be done with what I had to work with…and this was my trailer for about 10 years!
My old trailer was still old, but by doing this I know I extended the life of it for many years…along with other yearly maintence. Maybe some of my friends were just being nice - but several of them could not believe how good it looked when I was done. I was happy with it too.
It must be done quickly - once sanding it will be more vunerable to rust. Enlist the help of someone else if you can. I did mine alone (3 times) and it would take me 2 days to do it. My shoulders and back would be sore after the sanding. Now I wish I had taken before and after pics! ha ha
Rustoleum White.
:yes:
I did the '69 Stidham all by hand. Went over the rusty bits with the stuff that turns rust to primer, then went to town with roller and brush. Two coats, came out fabulous–people seriously thought I’d bought a new trailer.
Last year or the year before, did the '02 S&S Stocker. No rust yet but the factory job was oxidized. First coat I did when it was too hot/humid so it wasn’t great. Friend who borrowed trailer did 2nd coat with an air sprayer (~$15 for the sprayer, they have a compressor) and it looks FABULOUS.
I used “Appliance White” on the Stidham and had better luck than the “Gloss White” on the S&S (by hand_… but maybe it was just the weather. It was sweat-dripping-into-your-eyes hot, and I just didn’t know that was an issue.
I will repaint every 4-5 years.
The white looks amazingly sharp, and being Rusteoleum, it really extends the life of the metal. Get a nick or scrape? Touch it up with spray or brush, no biggie.
No, it doesn’t match my truck, but truck is black. White is cool in summer and doesn’t show dirt much. Doing the interior all white makes it SO much more inviting too. I knew when I bought the S&S I planned to ‘whitewash’ her in just a couple of years. Really, you can’t beat it.
So, if I’m getting this right, I’m looking at least a full day for each phase 1- sanding, 2 -priming, 3 - painting (with an optional 4th step for second coat). Correct?
Also, there is some rust along the window. I was thinking of pulling those out and doing the repair on the edges. Is there a recommend caulk when I put the windows in?
Too bad I can’t call “Pimp my ride” for all of this. 
We bought a grey '97 Sundowner recently that had quite a few minor rust spots all over and a leaky roof. DF (dear Fiance) sanded the roof, primed and painted with white. We have now started the rest of the body, working in small chunks. Our process is as follows:
It took us about 5 hours to do this process, minus the second paint coat, on the V-nose of the trailer. I rolled on the second coat of paint the next evening in under 30 minutes total. For now the trailer will go to shows part grey and part white, but for under $500 and a couple hours here and there we’ll have a rust-free newly painted horse trailer. It’s definitely labor-intensive, time-consuming, and well worth it.
Naval Jelly & Rustoleum
My last trailer was a steel '86 model. Great shape, some rust on the exterior. I sanded the rusty spots, applied Naval Jelly to ‘kill’ the rust, then painted with rustoleum. The BF believed that you could only get a smooth finish with a sprayer, so we each did a side. My side with the roller was faster, cleaner and nicer. I did a second coat on the entire trailer with the roller and didn’t paint again for the 5 years that I owned it. It’s still going strong, I see it in the area now and again.
One bit of advise, if you use painters tape to mask off any trim that you want to keep, be sure to remove the tape immediately, the sun will bake it on and good luck removing it after that!
I just came across this thread and it’s been so helpful!
I was thinking of de-rusting and re-painting my 1990 steel trailer myself. Truth is I’m not very handy (although I try) and the thought of having to give up multiple weekends (aka, precious time) plus the amount of area I have to cover, well I think I’m going to go check out my local Maaco!
Just for the record, my trailer is functionally sound, but so not pretty. Horsey loves it, but I would love it even more if I didn’t hear banjo music everytime I drove it around…
Anyway, after I have it painted I was wondering about this…
http://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail.html?pgguid=d5cefcd4-4f5d-4a3e-abd0-fdd229b98d26
Does anyone have any feed back?
My neighbor keeps his trailer covered; I don’t bother. I think wheel covers would be smart(er) but haven’t “gotten around” to that either. (UV from sunlight does a number on your tires. Most people’s hauling habits mean the tires will rot from sun before they actually run out of tread.)
“Horsey loves it, but I would love it even more if I didn’t hear banjo music everytime I drove it around…” HappyHoppingHaffy
LOL! Actually this weekend, I’m going up and starting phase one (derusting and bondo). I took before pictures, so hopefully, in a few weeks I will have the before and after pictures.
ambar, I can totally appreciate what you’re saying! I just had to replace two of my trailer tires to “dry rot” on Tuesday. (If it wasn’t for the no advertising rule I’d post the name and location of the tire place that helped me [local chain in the NE]). They were really that great. They let me keep my trailer connected to my truck and they had trailer tires in stock!..PM me if anyone is interested ) I have to park my trailer on grass, which I hear causes tires to rot faster. (?) I hadn’t thought of tire covers! I’ll have to look into those in addition to the trailer cover, which I’m trying to figure out if it’s really helpful? Is it really more cost effective to cover vs. touch up paint every few years?
Anyway, here is my trailer in pics if anyone wants to peek. My friend had it for 5 years before it came to me. It’s mechanically sound, a good floor, good brakes, good tires (now!), good wiring…it just looks like a tetnus shot in the making… (Cue the banjo!)
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=22461&id=1068781776&l=69d02b5315
Elisnore13, let me know how it goes! I think my trailer is too much for me to bite off. How much area do you have to do? If other people’s trailers are as bad as mine maybe I’ll be inspired to try?
HHH – Valley Vet stocks wheel covers; you can get to them in two clicks from the trailer cover link you posted.
Don’t know if it can still be done, but a friend of mine used to take her trailer to the local high school that tought trades to kids and let the kids paint it. All she had to do was supply the paint. The kids were supervised by the teacher and did a great job.
I did it!
I repainted my aluminum skin/steel frame 80’s Rice by hand. I hand sanded the rust off and smoothed the pitting, rust inhibited then used Rustoleum white on the top and Rustoleum fire engine red on the bottom. My only other choice was gloss black, and I didn’t want to bake any critters in it. The original color was copper and white. Who the heck paints a trailer copper to being with as it looks like a rust bucket is beyond me but this one was original paint and had oxidized really bad. I don’t have any great before pictures, but here’s the trailer trimmed out of a picture I took during an ice storm. You can see the rusting of the frame on the roof:
http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p262/jengersnaps/Rice/trailer1.jpg
In progress. The top has been completed and you can see the old copper body panel on the rear, the new red on the front:
http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p262/jengersnaps/Rice/trailerpainting.jpg
Body close up post painting:
http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p262/jengersnaps/Rice/9.jpg
Just before touch ups to the edges.
http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p262/jengersnaps/Rice/trailer.jpg
Trailer this month, 2 years later:
http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p262/jengersnaps/June%202009/BC6.jpg
Jengersnap - that’s exactly my same trailer! I love the paint job.
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