Paint !

[CarolineSmiles]

Ok, when you get tired of waking up to that horrible yellow in the drive way everyday, you KNOW your neighbors are over it if you are.

What is the minimal prep we should do in order to get the bus ready for a coat of paint?

What kind of paint will stay the longest and look the best?

What did you learn when you painted your bus?

Lastly. I know the roof being white is a great help for temperature control, but will other light colors do the job?

Much appreciated ya'll!

[o1marc]

You'll get so many opinions on how to prep and what paint to use. Clean and scuff with sandpaper, prime and paint. I am using a Tan roof sealer, no difference in performance.
Best paint would be what's on your car, but that would cost at least $10K on a bus

[brokedown]

Easy mode: If your body doesn't leak and you don't have rust to solve first, make a trip to Tractor Supply/Rural King/etc and get a couple gallons of Majic tractor Paint (https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/pr...ety-blue-1-gal) in a color you like. Paint everything that isn't the roof with it.. Note it dries very slowly, you need to wait a full day before applying a second coat and 2 days before doing anything else with the painted surface.

For the roof, you can get Rustoleum Professional oil based enamel at Home Depot. (https://www.rustoleum.com/product-ca...ective-enamel/) This stuff rolls on easy and dries very quickly, you only need to wait an hour between coats. I put 3 coats on my bus, and its so reflective you never want to be on the roof when the sun is out!

Before you paint you want to clean the surface really well. I used a power washer, some simple green, and a big scrub brush.

Lesson learned - Don't put tractor paint on your bus if it's going to rain within the next day. I'm still repairing that mistake.

if you're somewhere sunny like Florida/Texas/Arizona/etc, all of your heat issues will be caused by the sun hitting the metal. White reflects best, the more white the better. We used IH White tractor paint for the sides and the rustoleum gloss white for the roof.

[ekyoung]

Keep the advice coming folks, I'm in Seattle and want to get this exterior painted before the fall rains come!

I love this forum so much!

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by brokedown

Easy mode: If your body doesn't leak and you don't have rust to solve first, make a trip to Tractor Supply/Rural King/etc and get a couple gallons of Majic tractor Paint (https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/pr...ety-blue-1-gal) in a color you like. Paint everything that isn't the roof with it.. Note it dries very slowly, you need to wait a full day before applying a second coat and 2 days before doing anything else with the painted surface.

For the roof, you can get Rustoleum Professional oil based enamel at Home Depot. (https://www.rustoleum.com/product-ca...ective-enamel/) This stuff rolls on easy and dries very quickly, you only need to wait an hour between coats. I put 3 coats on my bus, and its so reflective you never want to be on the roof when the sun is out!

Before you paint you want to clean the surface really well. I used a power washer, some simple green, and a big scrub brush.

Lesson learned - Don't put tractor paint on your bus if it's going to rain within the next day. I'm still repairing that mistake.

if you're somewhere sunny like Florida/Texas/Arizona/etc, all of your heat issues will be caused by the sun hitting the metal. White reflects best, the more white the better. We used IH White tractor paint for the sides and the rustoleum gloss white for the roof.