Hi All,

As you might have read in another thread I am preparing my 6x6 Land Rover Defender for an overland trip across Africa. I am in Ghana at the moment.

The chassis is in great conditions - I want to paint it as i will be staying on the coast for long.

I have found the Jotun products here so will be applying jotamastic-87-aluminium (https://www.smlmarinepaints.co.uk/prime ... -aluminium).

The bodyshell is still mounted - the truck will be raised from the ground and the Jotamastic applied in situ

Few questions:

-how shall i prep the surface of the chassis? would a thorough wash with a strong water jet be sufficient or shall i also wire-brush?
-besides the chassis also the external lower part of the bodywork will be painted (the external part of the floor) + the axles - any advice on how to best do that?
-it will be applied with airless gun - anything that I should cover to avoid it painting (e.g. calipers, fuel hoses, ..)
-the local vendor told me that it can be atomised within the cavities (like you'd do with Dinistrol) - what are your thoughts on that?
-Would applying a top-coat have any impact on the resistance of it? I don't mind the cosmetic look

Thanks very much,

Simone

I can't give you much advice, but I worked in a shipyard for several years and we experimented with Jotun materials. it was quit some time ago so i'm not sure this was one of them. but it sounds like your product can be applied over weathered paint and steel. I would spray the bottom of your rig with a mixture of TSP and Bleach, say 4 cups TSP to a couple gallons of water then throw in a cup or two of bleach. soak the undercarriage for an hour or so keeping it wet, then pressure wash. this is this was our schedule for areas with paint and some weathered steel that could not be prepped any other way, like blasting, sanding or other. getting the surfaces clean and free of oxidation is the best start. hope this helps. if you want it to be tough why not spray it all with bed liner martial. I saw a 2017 Ford pickup that someone had sprayed the complete outside with black bed liner, there are several more in our area.
Jay D.