The Exterior

Hat Gloves Mask - Now how is the patient today ?

I had a colour scheme in mind, but before any of that happened there were a few little jobs that needed tending to.

Sand down all panels, dust clean and undercoat.

Window and door frames uggh! Oxidisation over the last 37 years has left them discoloured and the surface pitted.  Shane's suggestion was to "leave them they're fine" but I couldn't.  What's the point of spiffing her up and giving her a new paint job when the windows and door are a disgrace.

I started with steel wool which was very messy, then a fine grit sandpaper which hardly did anything.  I had read a blog where the owner had used a wire brush bit on a drill to remove the paint from her van.  I commented to Shane that that was what we needed.  His reponse was "I've got one of those" Well bring it on . . . . . .

Anything that was a silvery grey colour was on my radar. No aluminium surface was spared. 

The Undercoat

With the window and door frames looking 75% better Shane put on the undercoat.

It wasn't until we separated the screen door from the solid door that we realised the reverse louvers needed an undercoat as did the underside of the front fold down awning which was heavily pitted.  More sanding needed there too.  And heavens that aluminium screen door had succumbed to the same oxidisation as its frame and the windows.

I still wanted all the aluminium surfaces to be that 25% better and it was bothering me. So I googled and came up with the following :

Bi Carb Soda and Peroxide - left a gritty powdery finish and was difficult to remove from the ridges on the window frames.

Brasso - Very messy.  The smell brought back memories of cleaning the brass pots and ornaments that I had collected and had on display in my very first house.  What a job keeping those treasures clean and shiny.  They are no longer with me 🙃 

Gumption - Removed the grit on the door and after polishing a bit came up quite shiny.

Silver Polish - Turned everything black and after polishing showed a slight improvement.

Stainless Steel Polish - Epic Fail

Silvo - We have a winner !

The door continued . . . .

We will spray paint the door silver !

You know what . . . . there is a bit too much elbow grease being used here.  Is there any other way I can get my door shiny ? You betcha there is and I'm not ashamed to admit it !

Time to paint - let's add some colour

Off to Bunnings with my colour samples only to find that one of the colours is a Dark base and cannot be halved so I had to go with a lighter colour and half the strength again. 

Shane was busy taping up while I was gone and we couldn't wait to slap some of that colour onto dear Annie.

You'll have to wait till the end to see her paint job.  It's time to go inside . . . . . .

Comments

Hello
Love your little white inside. I love my little caravan called Tootsy. I will have to re paint the outside.