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#1
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Cobra Cosmetics II: How to Refinish?
An amazing (to me) amount of interest in refreshing faded vinyl trim
strips indicates pilots are serious about making their [gliders'] rides look good. But what about the trailer itself? My 14-year-old glass-top Cobra has a few cracks, nicks, etc., that will require work this winter. Matching the existing gel coat looks tough. And I'd rather save my refinishing money for the glider itself some day. So what's been the experience repairing/refinishing/painting German glass-top trailers? Chip Bearden ASW 24 "JB" |
#2
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Cobra Cosmetics II: How to Refinish?
Chip,
One of our club members painted his fiberglass topped Cobra. I'll have to ask him what type of paint he used, but I do remember him telling me that he used a roller. It doesn't look too bad! No, it's not a 'sprayed on' look, but for the money, it's not bad. And if you like a 'Pimp My Ride' trailer, ol' H2O has a good start. I believe he's got 17' 5-spoke alu alloy wheels with what looks like 40 series rim protectors (tires) on his Cobra. Ray Lovinggood Carrboro, North Carolina, USA At 12:54 19 July 2006, wrote: An amazing (to me) amount of interest in refreshing faded vinyl trim strips indicates pilots are serious about making their [gliders'] rides look good. But what about the trailer itself? My 14-year-old glass-top Cobra has a few cracks, nicks, etc., that will require work this winter. Matching the existing gel coat looks tough. And I'd rather save my refinishing money for the glider itself some day. So what's been the experience repairing/refinishing/painting German glass-top trailers? Chip Bearden ASW 24 'JB' |
#3
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Cobra Cosmetics II: How to Refinish?
Ray Lovinggood wrote:
And if you like a 'Pimp My Ride' trailer, ol' H2O has a good start. I believe he's got 17' 5-spoke alu alloy wheels with what looks like 40 series rim protectors (tires) on his Cobra. Heh. I saw H2O's rims at Minden. They apparently helped with his sway problem *and* make him look cool. :-) Jeremy |
#4
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Cobra Cosmetics II: How to Refinish?
Jeremy Zawodny wrote:
Ray Lovinggood wrote: And if you like a 'Pimp My Ride' trailer, ol' H2O has a good start. I believe he's got 17' 5-spoke alu alloy wheels with what looks like 40 series rim protectors (tires) on his Cobra. Heh. I saw H2O's rims at Minden. They apparently helped with his sway problem *and* make him look cool. :-) Jeremy But probably make a rough ride even rougher for the glider inside the trailer. |
#5
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Cobra Cosmetics II: How to Refinish?
My son and I repainted my old Komet trailer this winter with two-part
polyurethane paint. Two days to rub down the old paint and repair the blemishes and two days to repaint - two hours actually, the rest of the time was for masking, degreasing, detailing etc etc. Cost me about $400 for the paint and a joy ride for the guy who sprayed it; my son lives with me so the labour was free. Gel coat would have been cheaper but paint was easier. My understanding is you *have* to use gel or poly in order to protect the underlying fiberglass from UV - cheap household paint insn't sufficient. I also got templates for comp numbers on the fin and the glider type on the side, painted in blue trim to match the glider - beats 17" alloy rims every time The toughest part was finding a heated workshop big enough to do the job in - *must* be heated to 20-25 deg C for the paint to cure properly. wrote in message oups.com... An amazing (to me) amount of interest in refreshing faded vinyl trim strips indicates pilots are serious about making their [gliders'] rides look good. But what about the trailer itself? My 14-year-old glass-top Cobra has a few cracks, nicks, etc., that will require work this winter. Matching the existing gel coat looks tough. And I'd rather save my refinishing money for the glider itself some day. So what's been the experience repairing/refinishing/painting German glass-top trailers? Chip Bearden ASW 24 "JB" |
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Cobra Cosmetics II: How to Refinish?
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#7
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Cobra Cosmetics II: How to Refinish?
Greg Arnold wrote:
Jeremy Zawodny wrote: Ray Lovinggood wrote: And if you like a 'Pimp My Ride' trailer, ol' H2O has a good start. I believe he's got 17' 5-spoke alu alloy wheels with what looks like 40 series rim protectors (tires) on his Cobra. Heh. I saw H2O's rims at Minden. They apparently helped with his sway problem *and* make him look cool. :-) Jeremy But probably make a rough ride even rougher for the glider inside the trailer. I'm curious about the relative resistance to road hazard damage provided by a 75 series trailer-rated tire (typical on a glider trailer) and a 40 series tire that isn't trailer rated. It's hard for me to avoid every rock, road debris, pot hole, and curb with my trailer. -- Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA www.motorglider.org - Download "A Guide to Self-launching Sailplane Operation" |
#8
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Cobra Cosmetics II: How to Refinish?
I refinished a glass Pfeiffer trailer for a cirrus about 25 years ago with Imron. The trailer is still around and sits out in the sun at Ephrata every summer. The paint has done very well and still looks great. The Pfeiffer trailers did not have a gel coat finish so cracks from underlying gel coat were not a problem. Most polyurethanes use very nasty isocyantes for curing so you should have professional spray equipment with outside air supply etc. Best way around this is to do all the prep and then arrange with a local autobody shop to do the actual spray work. They have all the facilities and do it on a daily basis. Prep the gelcoat with 220 grit wet to give the polyurethane some tooth to grab onto. After sanding wash down with clean water (no soap or detergents) and completely dry everything taking care to blow water out of any crevices. If there are existing cracks or crazing in the gel coat they will eventually work their way up through the polyurethane. Only way I know around this is to completely strip the gelcoat which seems like way more trouble than it is worth for a trailer. Refinishing with gelcoat in my opinion would just compound the existing problems. Polyurethanes have much better UV resistance and are not as brittle. It is also easier to find a body shop to apply them. Done correctly the polyurethane won't need any post spray work (sanding, buffing etc.) at all and you'll be set for years to come. Best of luck Craig Funston |
#9
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Cobra Cosmetics II: How to Refinish?
I have an old Eiri Avion fiberglass trailer. Two years ago I asked an
autobody paint specialist friend how to deal with the deteriorating gel coat. He said " Why don't you just paint it with house paint". I took his advice and applied it with a roller and paint brush after a good scrubbing. Two tone with a third color mimicing graphics on my ship. So far it is holding up well. Cost: less than $40 in materials. I live high up in Colorado and a house paint that does not deal with UV would have little value. Should you be in Moriarty, take a look of some of the old trailers on the tarmac with enjoyable graphic paint jobs. It gave me the sensation that a trailer can be a fun billboard. Many of these were done quite awhile ago and seem to be holding their colors. Randy "Crash" Cone .. wrote: An amazing (to me) amount of interest in refreshing faded vinyl trim strips indicates pilots are serious about making their [gliders'] rides look good. But what about the trailer itself? My 14-year-old glass-top Cobra has a few cracks, nicks, etc., that will require work this winter. Matching the existing gel coat looks tough. And I'd rather save my refinishing money for the glider itself some day. So what's been the experience repairing/refinishing/painting German glass-top trailers? Chip Bearden ASW 24 "JB" |
#10
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Cobra Cosmetics II: How to Refinish?
A friend of mine has just repainted his trailer with masonry paint
(designed for the plastered/rendered exterior walls of houses). This gives a matt finish, but it looks pretty good. His reasoning is that the paint has to stick to the house for 10 years or so, so it should stick to a trailer equally well! Will try to remember to report in 10 years time how it's holding up. Birdbones wrote: I have an old Eiri Avion fiberglass trailer. Two years ago I asked an autobody paint specialist friend how to deal with the deteriorating gel coat. He said " Why don't you just paint it with house paint". I took his advice and applied it with a roller and paint brush after a good scrubbing. Two tone with a third color mimicing graphics on my ship. So far it is holding up well. Cost: less than $40 in materials. I live high up in Colorado and a house paint that does not deal with UV would have little value. Should you be in Moriarty, take a look of some of the old trailers on the tarmac with enjoyable graphic paint jobs. It gave me the sensation that a trailer can be a fun billboard. Many of these were done quite awhile ago and seem to be holding their colors. Randy "Crash" Cone . wrote: An amazing (to me) amount of interest in refreshing faded vinyl trim strips indicates pilots are serious about making their [gliders'] rides look good. But what about the trailer itself? My 14-year-old glass-top Cobra has a few cracks, nicks, etc., that will require work this winter. Matching the existing gel coat looks tough. And I'd rather save my refinishing money for the glider itself some day. So what's been the experience repairing/refinishing/painting German glass-top trailers? Chip Bearden ASW 24 "JB" |
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