I need to paint a small jet ski trailer that is galvanized. Whats the best way to prep the surface for some PPG. Do I need to sandblast or burn all the galvanizing off first? I get all kinds of advice to far.

Thanks Anthony

i painted all the galvanized pieces on my aluminum trailer, sand blasted them first, then used PPG epoxy and paint...holding up great....

Did you remove all the galvanizing or just rought it up. Thats exactly what I was thinking of doing then another friend said the paint just fell off a couple weeks later because he didnt remove it all.

Anthony

I posted on this a few times in the past with more specifics. I sanded mine down with a DA, and used a single stage industrial paint that I got from Benjamin Moore. It worked great and no issues.

I didn't take it all off, i used black beauty blasting media, that stuff roughs up the metal pretty good....

Been doing this for years and this winter on my 32 skater trailer which now is painted . I'm going to sandblast it then have galvanized after that da the whole thing and maybe somebody work to clean it up . Next as mentioned ealier Epoxy primer then in my case basecoat/ clear because I want bright silver .

But before I send it off to get galv I wanted to make some changes as in remove those 1920 style leaf springs and install tosion( so much cleaner ) mock up for stainless steel wash-down tank ( low pro-file 80 gal ) and a few other things


Larry

The was down tank is an awesome addition, we had one on one of the race boat trucks and it saves a ton of time. Super handy to just pull out of the way on your own and wash down without having to wait for a hose to open up. Dean set up the truck for the Wahoo SS cat with a hundred gallon tank and high volume pump and it was plenty of water to run the motors clean and wash down everything well. I like your idea to do a low pro on the trailer and where you have it it can act as sort of a walkway for helping walk the boat on if need be.

Leave the galvanizing on, sand with D/A to remove bumps and imperfections then very quickly and gently blast all surfaces. Use a fine/ small size abrasive. The idea is to remove an shine and or "white rust". Zincs naturally protect itself with an invisable film an you want to remove and rough up for adhesion. Surfaces can then be primed using acrylic latex or epoxy. Do NOT use an Alkyd paint. A high quality gloss acrylic will last many years and have excellent color and gloss retention. Epoxies work well but must be top coated with aliphatic polyurethane for color and gloss retention.

Thanks for the input guys. but Im also thinking of just getting the trailer powder coated. I have a shop not far from me who quoted me 300.00 to powder the whole trailer. I asked about the galvanized and he said no problem. Is this a decent price for a standard color and a trailer for a 10' boat, so over all about 14'? And what are your thoughts on the galvanizing and powder coat? It would cost me 150.00 or more for DP primer and DBC base and 2011 clear just for me to paint it. Seems like its a better way tp go.

Anthony

The price is right to powder coat. Be sure to prepared the surface using a fine abrasive and low pressure to remove oxides from the existing galvanize just before powder coating. Be sure to remove wheel bearings & grease and any plastic bushings your springs may have