Painting the interior
Now that I had gotten most of the finishing edges done, it was time to prime and paint. I used Glidden Gripper paint, as recommended by dozens of internet camper restoration websites. It was pretty pricey, this quart was $16. None of my local stores carried it, so I ordered it from Walmart.com. The picture showed a gallon can, and I was like, Man! What a good deal! When the box arrived, it was tiny. Showed me I should have read the fine print, I bought a quart. I sanded all glossy areas, all the luan, and anything that looked like it needed sanding. I then used a paintbrush to apply, since the paint gun had just died.
I finally bit the bullet and went to Harbor Freight after reading a million reviews of their paint guns (they are horrible and cheap! they are great and wonderful! Harbor Freight is full of evil, foul-smelling chicken farmers - loved that one). I bought the cheapest one, the 15.99 HVLP gravity sprayer with a 20% off coupon, making it 12.79. Although it was almost as much as the gun, I also purchased the 2-year replacement plan for 9.99. Adding in the regulator and paintbrush, my total was 32.42.
I got back to the shop, and did something that is foreign to my whole family. I sat down and read every bit of instructions that came with the gun.
I never could get the regulator that I bought to work, so I used an old one of Daddy's. Daddy has a very large air compressor and this gun does not require a lot of air, so you need to read the pressure needs very closely. It took a bit of tweaking, but I finally got a good even spray.
I loved this little gun. It made everything so much easier. I painted the entire inside in one morning. I didn't have any problems with clogging. The paint I used was Sherwin Williams eggshell in white. The business my neighbor works for had remodeled and they were just throwing away the leftover paint. She texted me, Score! and loaded it all up in her truck. This was almost a brand new can of paint. I mixed it about 4:1 with water and it went on great. I did two coats. So far, I haven't noticed any flaking or peeling.
Really the only problems I had with the sprayer was it was tricky to fill unless you have a stand, which I plan on building one.
