Looking for advice on prep and resealing of aluminum roof on 84 Toyota Dolphin. Roof is covered with old sealant that has degraded. Peeling in many spots, but impossible to remove in most places. I have tried scraping with a plastic putty knife (advised that metal can damage the aluminum), using a heat gun and carefully scraping with metal scraper, and Acetone. Nothing helps that much. Heat gun softens the coating some, but also melts a plastic putty knife (heat from roof and coating, not the gun). Wire brush on a drill has been suggested, but will that also damage the aluminum? Need suggestions for removal, prep (sanding, priming, recoating areas where coating is firmly attached), order of reapplying (removing vents, applying seam tape, products, replacing and sealing vents and trim, applying new sealant). Can Dicor Elastomeric Coating adhere to old covering once it's scraped and cleaned?
Resealing aluminum roof 84 toyota
- Thread starter jandee
- Start date
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NY_Dutch
Well-known member
It's hard to say what will work without knowing what the existing material is, but coating with Dicor's metal roof primer first might work. I suggest posing your situation to "Rudy" at Dicor to see what they recommend.
Rudy, The Dicor Products Answer Man - Dicor Products
dicorproducts.com
Gary RV_Wizard
Site Team
Probably the best solution is to remove the old metal and reskin. Get a clean start. BTW, it's probably galvanized tin rather than aluminum, not that it makes any difference.
Otherwise, scrape off all the loose/peeling stuff and make sure any residual coating is clean. Maybe even sand it a bit.
Without knowing what was coated over the metal, it's impossible to know if new roof-coat will stick to it or not. A product designed for mobile home (etc) roofs is more likely to stick to a wide variety of surfaces than a product intended for RV EPDM roofs. Something like Henry's Tropi-Cool or Dura-Brite has a good chance of success. Those will surely stick to any metal, but you will have to experiment with the residual coated areas. Try a small area before doing the entire roof. Just in case...
Otherwise, scrape off all the loose/peeling stuff and make sure any residual coating is clean. Maybe even sand it a bit.
Without knowing what was coated over the metal, it's impossible to know if new roof-coat will stick to it or not. A product designed for mobile home (etc) roofs is more likely to stick to a wide variety of surfaces than a product intended for RV EPDM roofs. Something like Henry's Tropi-Cool or Dura-Brite has a good chance of success. Those will surely stick to any metal, but you will have to experiment with the residual coated areas. Try a small area before doing the entire roof. Just in case...
NY_Dutch
Well-known member
Just an aside, but National/Dolphin did use a natural aluminum roof material on the Toyota based Class C's in that era, likely to save weight. Years later, the roofs were notorious for developing pinholes if not coated with various products. I know of one that had the entire roof covered with Eternabond.
Gary RV_Wizard
Site Team
Thanks, Dutch, I didn't know they did that. A typical 80's era rig from Fleetwood or National RV or Gulfstream used galvanized metal, but it wasn't any better. Pinholes, splits around fasteners, and sometimes even rust.
