Anole had asked me how I painted my fiberglass BUD so I thought to post a simple thread about.
First of all I used "Rustoleum" Premium rusty metal gray primer, it's very durable and easy to apply with either brush or spray. I used almost a full gallon. I first had to clean up all the panels and parts, the panels were really rough with fiber hairs shedding everywhere so I found that a metal scraper and soapy water worked best for the back webbing of the panels for the hard to get places (frequently rinsing with clean water via the garden hose) then using wet or dry 220 grit sandpaper with soapy water gave it a nice smooth surface and removed the fine nubs of glass fibers.
The front of the panels must be treated differently in order not to further damage the embedded wire screen mesh so I used a brass bristle wire brush with soapy water and brushed the entire surface then very lightly sanding with wet 220 paper just to smooth it more. I discovered it was best to keep the surfaces wet at all times when scraping and sanding, I used a spray bottle full of soapy water, liquid "Dawn" dish soap or even "Simple Green" will do fine. Always wear long sleeve rubber gloves when working with fiberglass, it's nasty stuff. I think thats why the guy that gave it to me wanted it off of his property, his grand kids were getting covered with glass when they played on the dish, after all it was in the harsh desert for about 20 years getting sandblasted and being exposed to the blistering heat and UV rays.
The cleaning and scraping was the most time consuming, with lots of patience and breaks between, it took me about 3 months to complete the entire resto of the pieces including the post parts. It took me two days to dig the hole and plant the 3.5" X 10' long post in concrete, whew! I then filled the post with concrete to add rigidity. It's standing up to 50 mph winds so far.
I then brushed 3 heavy coats of the Premium Rustoleum on the front side allowing each coat to dry, BTW, this paint dries really quick so you don't have long waits between coats. I opted to spray the rear sides because of the webbing, it was a lot easier and quicker than brushing. Two coats on the rear worked out fine.
So far it's been about 6 months and the paint is holding up perfectly without any fading or powdering in this harsh desert environment.
I hope other's will find this helpful if you ever have to restore a fiberglass dish.
First of all I used "Rustoleum" Premium rusty metal gray primer, it's very durable and easy to apply with either brush or spray. I used almost a full gallon. I first had to clean up all the panels and parts, the panels were really rough with fiber hairs shedding everywhere so I found that a metal scraper and soapy water worked best for the back webbing of the panels for the hard to get places (frequently rinsing with clean water via the garden hose) then using wet or dry 220 grit sandpaper with soapy water gave it a nice smooth surface and removed the fine nubs of glass fibers.
The front of the panels must be treated differently in order not to further damage the embedded wire screen mesh so I used a brass bristle wire brush with soapy water and brushed the entire surface then very lightly sanding with wet 220 paper just to smooth it more. I discovered it was best to keep the surfaces wet at all times when scraping and sanding, I used a spray bottle full of soapy water, liquid "Dawn" dish soap or even "Simple Green" will do fine. Always wear long sleeve rubber gloves when working with fiberglass, it's nasty stuff. I think thats why the guy that gave it to me wanted it off of his property, his grand kids were getting covered with glass when they played on the dish, after all it was in the harsh desert for about 20 years getting sandblasted and being exposed to the blistering heat and UV rays.
The cleaning and scraping was the most time consuming, with lots of patience and breaks between, it took me about 3 months to complete the entire resto of the pieces including the post parts. It took me two days to dig the hole and plant the 3.5" X 10' long post in concrete, whew! I then filled the post with concrete to add rigidity. It's standing up to 50 mph winds so far.
I then brushed 3 heavy coats of the Premium Rustoleum on the front side allowing each coat to dry, BTW, this paint dries really quick so you don't have long waits between coats. I opted to spray the rear sides because of the webbing, it was a lot easier and quicker than brushing. Two coats on the rear worked out fine.
So far it's been about 6 months and the paint is holding up perfectly without any fading or powdering in this harsh desert environment.
I hope other's will find this helpful if you ever have to restore a fiberglass dish.
