Florida M101A2

[Heat Miser]

I picked up an M101A2 in Georgia about three weeks ago. It's clean, straight, and complete (rails, bows, and top). I'll use it to haul my kayak, bikes, and for camping. Right now, I plan on camping in it. The top is in great shape and I'll add mosquito netting and foam rubber floor for added comfort and insulation. At this point, it's more of a refurb than a build as I plan on doing short camping trips and determining what changes I want to make.

Also, because I'm in Florida, I don't plan on putting it on much of a diet up front because Florida is, well, flat (minus the overpasses) and it tows very nicely. If I do mountain trips, then a diet might be in order.

Anyhow, I know some of you have the same trailer and have painted them. Did anyone use a rattle can? I have no experience with an HVLP unit (or the paint to run through it), but is it difficult to learn? What did you use for primer or surface rust treatment? Thanks in advance. Pardon the crappy cell phone pics.

 

[grimbo]

Wow that is a clean trailer, nice find

 

[Mark Harley]

Nice trailer, I bought a $12.99 Harbor freight HVLP top pot spray gun.
It sprays solvent based paint well, Not so well with thinned latex.

I took the tub off my M101A2 and shot it in the yard on 4 sawhorses.
Fast drying and little over spray, "The grass was not red"
The CARC paint took the paint well, I fixed some dents and cleaned the gunk with lacquer thinner.

"Do not sand the CARC paint it is bad stuff"

I figured for $12.99 I would toss it when I was done,
cleaned it out well and it is ready to paint again.

Keep us posted on the refab.

My build:
http://www.expeditionportal.com/for...d-a-Military-trailer-to-build-a-family-hauler

Mark Harley

 

[Dirtytires]

RAPCO rattle cans. You have a nice trailer there. Welcome to the forum.

 

[Heat Miser]

Thank you everyone. It's in amazing shape and it's exactly as the previous owned described, plus it was really inexpensive. I couldn't be happier with it.

Mark, I've been following your build thread. You do amazing work. I know CARC paint is pretty nasty stuff when sprayed or sanded, so that's not a consideration. Did you pressure wash the trailer before painting?

 

[Mark Harley]

Yes! The trailer was treated to a $10.00 bath at the local high pressure car wash.
It looked clean when it came home from Ohio but once the soap and water hit it,
It started to ooze brown! The dirt came out from the cracks and crevices.

That was well worth the $10.00. I came home and took the tub off with the help of my daughter Gaby.
and placed it carefully on four saw horses to paint. It baked it the 90 plus degree heat for 4 days before pounded out dents and scraped any loose paint.

I removed all the sale ID marks and the invoice folder residue with lacquer thinner, then sprayed the tub Hot Rod red by Mathews.

 

[Scrapdaddy]

Looking at your trailer, you got a good one!. You have the new composite rails, very nice. Go to this site. jatonkam35s.com and download the TM manuels for your 101. They have everything in them, you will ever need. By the way, why not leave it tan, looks good.

 

[Heat Miser]

Mark: Thanks for the information. I knew I saw something build thread and this really helps. By the way, I subscribed to the thread. Great work.

Scrapdaddy: Thanks. I had to drive a bit to get it, but it was definitely worth it. And I really appreciate the link to the manual. For now, the trailer will stay tan. I'm going to repack the wheel bearings and use it, then see how I might want to modify it. Right now, it's simply a refurb.

 

[koolex11]

That trailer is beautiful! That will make the perfect build.

 

[Heat Miser]

Update to the freshening of my M101A2. I repacked the wheel bearings. It was nice to know they didn't really need it, but it's an easy job and cheap insurance. As shown in the photos below, the floor is lined with home gym flooring (rubber mat), which should provide a bit of insulation. At the front of the trailer is a 2x4 bit with quick releases for carrying bikes. There are three pieces of 2x4. The two side pieces run from the front of the wheel arch to the front of the trailer, so there's no play front to back. The third piece connects the side pieces and is screwed into the top of them, so there's no play side to side. The whole thing lifts out so an inflatable matress can sit between the wheel arches.

Not shown in the photo is mesh netting that will hang from the bows and provide some protection from mosquitoes or other pests. The canvas top will go over that. There's also a light and fan combo that will hang from one of the bows. Other improvements include longer safety chains and chains to stop the tailgate at 90 degrees instead of letting it fall to 180 degrees.

The shakedown trip is in a couple weeks, so I'll have a better idea of what needs to be done after that.

 

[Dirtytires]

Nice job on the flooring. Cork is a good flooring to use as well.

 

[Heat Miser]

I hadn't thought of cork. Good to know. Thanks.

 

[Dirtytires]

Cork is a great insulator plus it is easy to clean up. It's oil makes it pretty much waterproof as well.

 

[Arctic Cat]

The color code for your trailer is Desert Tan 33446 color is sometimes referred to as Tan 686 or Tan 686A The Desert Tan 33446 paint is available at RAPTCO in spray cans, or you can also take the color code (33446) to Lowes or Home Depot and have them mixed it for you, (you can used an electric painter, such as a Wagner) This can be done as the code can also be formulated as other types of paint other than CARC. For your info there are two types of WD CARC. Type I is better than the original CARC but contain silica-based extender pigments that are almost identical to those used in solvent-based CARC. Most likely your trailer is painted with WD CARC Type I, if you want to sand some areas make sure you wear a respirator. Nothing fancy but I suggest wearing one.

 

[Heat Miser]

Thanks for the paint code info. I'll need to do something with it sooner or later because it's peeling in a few areas.