What primer, paint for exterior with some exposed aluminum?

[je.lym]

Hi! I recently bought a 1995 Jayco 1207 pop-up and I’m preparing the exterior for painting. The exterior is a painted aluminum with an orange peel texture. I used a 3M Stripe Off Wheel to remove the vinyl stripes and decals—which worked great—but I may have pressed too hard in some areas, because there are now places where the aluminum is showing. I really don't want to remove all the paint, so I’m looking for a primer that will work well on this type of surface (mostly painted with some exposed aluminum). Has anyone worked with this? I would love some advice. Thank you!

[Doug]

I would try a self etching primer followed by Rustoleum 2X of your choice.
I used this method on an aluminum mailbox at our condo complex. Worked out nicely and holding up after 5 years.
D.

[Danno]

Self-etch will only work on bare metal. The proper primer is a 2-part epoxy and will have excellent adhesion on both the painted sections and the areas you sanded through.

[je.lym]

Thanks for the replies—I really appreciate it!

I want to look more into this 2-part epoxy primer. Can you point me toward a brand and location to buy? Also, can you recommend a paint to use over it?

[Sundancer330]

I would stop by a local automotive paint supplier and explain what you want to do. They will give you the proper information, as you can see here sometimes misinformation is given. This is a job I would want to only do once, and using the wrong products can make for bad results

[Danno]

Originally Posted by je.lym

Thanks for the replies—I really appreciate it!

I want to look more into this 2-part epoxy primer. Can you point me toward a brand and location to buy? Also, can you recommend a paint to use over it?

I've been painting for over 25 years, and have always used Dupont (now Axalta), but it's very expensive. Recently I started using their cheaper line for epoxy and I really like it. It's called Nason. Your best bet is to go to your local jobber and use what they sell. As far as paint, a single stage urethane will be fine and will last quite a few years. You can apply the paint over the epoxy without sanding in between if you do it within a certain amount of time which will save some work. If you've never painted before, a trailer is a perfect project to experiment on.
Sundancer is correct that you should do your own research on this because there's tons of bad information in these forums, but asking the guy selling this stuff behind the counter is not a reliable source of information either. Go to a bodyshop and ask the Guys that actually do this type of work.

[les45]

I have found that Zinsser oil based primer will stick to almost anything including glass. I've used it many times on my camper projects topped with Rustoleum and never had a problem.