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Old 05-07-2020, 01:03 AM   #81
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bus-bro View Post
Are you grinding down to bare metal? If not: the best paint job on the bus is the one it came with. So if you don't have a coating failure, just scrub with TSP, rinse and let dry, then paint, no primer needed. "Just scrub" is a vigorous Scotch-Brite scrub of every surface, and then a thorough fresh water rinse. And it takes several warm days for all that water to dribble out of the rub rails.

I've got 12 years on an airless sprayed industrial acrylic paint job. It still looks good and industrial, though it's time has come.

The thing is that when you paint on the top of that school bus yellow is that if you scratch the paint you'll see that accursed school bus yellow again. I guess you just can't escape your roots.

Definitely don't plan to go down to bare metal. If that's the case, then is the primer not necessary? Like I had mentioned, I'm looking for durability here, so if a primer helps with that, I'm more than willing to spend the $ on it.

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Old 05-07-2020, 10:08 AM   #82
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DTM Acrylic paint is all you really need. Mix with an enamel hardener and you're golden. I primed my bus right after I got it with this (in white):








It was one of the first things I did after I bought the bus because of legal reasons (in CA) and I didn't want to be harassed by the cops. This was before I really knew what I was doing, and it was a shitty paint job with an air compressor and sprayer.


Here's how it started:





After two years, the paint started flaking and the yellow came back in a lot of places. We prepped it again in the same way as before (wash, one over with a random orbital sander, another wash, then a wipe down with acetone) and rolled on the basic Rustoleum professional from Home Depot with enamel hardener.


Now it looks GREAT, even in the places where the primer had flaked off. You really don't need to put primer on, so long as you use the following two items:











As far as durability goes, I'm lucky in that my driveway is always in shade (or unlucky because of all the pine sap) so the sun doesn't damage it too much. But other than that, as long as you prep it good (with the aforementioned technique) and use the enamel hardener, you'll maximize endurance regardless of a primer coat.



I'm not a professional though so maybe don't listen to me.
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Old 05-26-2020, 07:24 PM   #83
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Hi, I bought a airless spray gun
Wagner 0529010 Flexio 590
and I used Swerwin Williams SherKem paint. No primer, directly on the metal.
I took 8 hours at 3 person to tape the bus and 4 hours to make 3 layer of paint.
The results is really great. no waves.
Vincent
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Old 05-26-2020, 07:38 PM   #84
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Join Date: May 2016
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Vincent View Post
Hi, I bought a airless spray gun
Wagner 0529010 Flexio 590
and I used Swerwin Williams SherKem paint. No primer, directly on the metal.
I took 8 hours at 3 person to tape the bus and 4 hours to make 3 layer of paint.
The results is really great. no waves.
Vincent
I am in the process of painting with Sher-Kem. I cleaned and sanded the existing paint and primered all bare metal. I used hardener 1:8 and xylene to thin 10%. I applied it with a $10 Harbor Freight HVLP.

I have painted about half the bus so far. I am please with the material but the painter is incompetent...
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Old 05-26-2020, 07:51 PM   #85
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Made me laugh! Harbor Freight also sells a competent painter for about 500 yuan (at 0.14 per US dollar that's a bargain, $7.14) and they can read the instructions. Just kidding. Your painting prowess has improved considerably and is looking good.
Jack
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