Sound technical content, curated with aloha by
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Pine Beach, NJ

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Painting procedure for aluminum (slide-in camper)

Q. I bought a 70 s cabover slide in camper. My question is what kind of paint should I use to paint the exterior? I know you can purchase a paint at home depot to paint aluminum exterior or should I use a standard car paint to paint the exterior of my camper? And do they make a car paint that will work with aluminum.

Thanks,

JEFF POHL
hobbyist - VISTA, CALIF, USA
2004

Q. I have the same question and would like to know which paint to use and how to prepare the surface for painting.

Michael Gupton
- Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
2005

Q. I have the same question.

tim frazier
- gate city Virginia
July 12, 2009

A. Hi, guys. It isn't clear to me whether this is aluminum that has already been painted, or raw aluminum. When something has already been painted, you want to leave that pretreatment and primer in place and just clean the surface well, very lightly sand it if glazed, and paint it with any paint suitable for an automobile.

Raw aluminum that has never been painted requires pretreatment though. Ideal would be Alumiprep 33 ⇦ this on eBay or Amazon [affil links] activation, then Alodine 1201 ⇦ this on eBay or Amazon [affil links] , but this involves hazardous materials (hexavalent chromium), so it is for the more experienced.

Second best is real zinc chromate primer ⇦ this on Amazon (affil link)] . Most probably aren't real chromate these days, but on the positive side, if they are labeled as zinc chromate at least you know they are intended for painting aluminum.

For general amateur use on aluminum, a zinc phosphate primer ⇦ this on eBay or Amazon [affil links] is probably okay, but again, check that it is labeled for use on aluminum. After the pretreatment or prime coat, you can use automotive paint. Good luck.

Regards,

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
July , 2009

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