There are 1-part topside paints that are very UV resistant. These are used on boat decks and anything else above the water line. If placed over a red oxide or other rust-inhibiting primer, I'd suspect they'd perform fairly well at UV resistance, even though they're ultimately made for wood or fiberglass substrates.
Used to be Valspar, but they've switched to Majic brand, the last several years. Similar products.
I'm convinced it makes a big difference in weeks 1 - 4, maybe even longer. But it seems to me that the paint reaches a similar final hardness with or without, it just takes much longer without.
If you use Rustoleum be sure to use "professional". bigger can, fast dry. If you can access a paint shaker that's great because it may have been around a while ie. home desperate warehouse
The other thing I do is put the can in a bucket of hot water for awhile. The nozzle is less likely to produce spatter and the paint will flow out more before drying/hardening. I find this is almost a necessity when the paint has been stored in the garage where it is not subject to freezing but is definitely cooler than in the house. I discovered that it takes at least 24 hours to warm up if brought inside the house and left to sit.
That's a good tip! I'd never have thought about preheating a spray paint can in hot water! I'm curious as to how long is "awhile" to you?
I usually do 10 minutes unless it's really cold, then about 20. I use water uncomfortably warm to your hand.
Thank you for that advise!
I too was going to say, implement paint.
I hate rattle cans. If I'm painting any significant amount I will get out one of the HVLP guns. If it's a touch up I will often just brush it. Rattle cans only for special cases when the paint I want isn't readily available in a pint, quart or gallon.
100% true here on the contents of Imron paint. I was warned about using this when I repainted my 1978 truck that had this paint on it. When I purchased the paint, the paint store told me not to paint it in even an open garage unless I had a fresh air respirator, or the results could very well be deadly. Without this respirator, don't paint anyplace more confined than an open driveway. The finish was beautiful, but even back then, the price of the paint was astronomical. I can just imagine what it is now.
Same here. I tried some Valspar several years ago in a rattle can that looked like a good Kubota match to touch up the scratched and faded orange areas on my L3130. Unfortunately, even with proper prep, the Valspar faded and came off even faster than the original Kubota orange from 2006. This summer, I got some Rust-O-Leum Farm & Implement in Kubota Orange and sprayed my almost pink areas. Thinned just slightly for spraying, and the tractor looked like it just came out of the body shop. I was going to add some hardener to make it set up faster, but unfortunately, the hardener hardened in the can. So I had to wait for the paint to harden on it's own. Once hardened, just to help prolong the paint's life, I threw a coat of car wax on it and ran a buffer over it just for fun.
All LP's are expensive! Figure $300/gallon for base + $200 for the converter + $70 for reducer + $100 for surface cleaner... and all that's after you've already spent a nearly-similar amount on the primer coat. Again, I wouldn't bother for a trailer, the effort and time to prep and set up a proper spray environment alone isn't worth it, even putting the cost aside.
