Prepping and Painting your bus.

[crazycal]

I would like to do the prep and paint tutorial sticky. Since I don't know anything about prepping and painting a bus, I would like input here.

[PNW_Steve]

I would love to see paint and body stickie..

There are a number of topics that could be well worth having a stickies.

[family wagon]

Would it be useful to have more than one? Some people want to roll on some rustoleum and call it a day; others want to strip everything to bare metal, remove windows and lights, and spray on US$3000+ of paint after all that prep is done.

[crazycal]

Reserved for more

[crazycal]

Make suggestions here and I will bring it up with other mods and see what kind of stickies I will make.

[musigenesis]

Originally Posted by family wagon

Would it be useful to have more than one? Some people want to roll on some rustoleum and call it a day; others want to strip everything to bare metal, remove windows and lights, and spray on US$3000+ of paint after all that prep is done.

That is unfair to those of us who want to spray on Rustoleum.

[crazycal]

Nothing is set in stone. Make your suggestions.

[Johnny Mullet]

There are so many ways to prep/paint a bus. Prep alone is a topic in itself. Paint is an entire other matter.

[o1marc]

Originally Posted by musigenesis

That is unfair to those of us who want to spray on Rustoleum.

A stickie by a guy who admits he has no knowledge or experience in the subject he wants to do a stickie on. How is that different than spraying with Rustoleum.

[brokedown]

I learned if you're using tractor paint that you need to thin it to the consistency of milk and do 10 coats instead of putting it on at normal thickness and doing 3... So I might roll on rustoleum next time.

[crazycal]

Originally Posted by o1marc

A stickie by a guy who admits he has no knowledge or experience in the subject he wants to do a stickie on. How is that different than spraying with Rustoleum.

And your point is? You have something to contribute to this thread?

[o1marc]

Originally Posted by crazycal

And your point is? You have something to contribute to this thread?

I think painting a vehicle is an art and there are many ways to do it. Just think that it's not something a person with no experience should be the one writing a stickie about the subject. You've already admitted you have nothing to contribute, but you want to do an authoritative post on the subject. I just find it humerous. It would be like me writing a stickie on wiring a bus.

[crazycal]

I'm not writing the how to post. If everyone thinks is a bad idea, just say so and I won't put it up.

[family wagon]

I do think it's a good idea. My earlier comment was meant to highlight that there are extremes in the finish/quality people might desire, and a whole spectrum between those. Maybe it would be helpful to have write-ups for several segments of the job so that a person could choose where to enter and exit for their project based on interest, budget, etc.


Here are some ideas for topics. I don't mean to suggest each of these should be a thread of its own, but rather to illustrate there are some common steps no matter the cost of the paint and other steps that only make sense for a high-dollar/high-effort paint job.

• quick prep to re-paint over existing paint
  • surface prep (degrease, scuff/sand, clean)
  • masking or removing parts
• detailed/advanced prep
  • stripper
  • media blasting
  • rust mitigation/repair
  • body work - welding, panel repair/replacement, body filler/glaze
• applying low-cost paint (including dealing with sun, dust, thinning the paint, optional hardener)
  • roller
  • spray (blower-style HVLP, compressed air HVLP, conventional compressed air spray, etc)
• applying two part automotive paint
  • epoxy or other direct to metal primer
  • wet sanding

[PNW_Steve]

Originally Posted by crazycal

I'm not writing the how to post. If everyone thinks is a bad idea, just say so and I won't put it up.

Please don't let Marc discourage you. I think that more stickies on common tasks will be helpful.

[gs1949]

I think more stickies would be helpful too. I am currently prepping for Tropicool. There is useful information on this topic here on this forum, but it's scattered a bit here and a bit there. I would be nice to have the most pertinent bits all together in one place.

[Danjo]

Hey Crazycal, what’s your 20?

maybe you can benefit from this fleet sized spray booth rental I found in LA. It’s called OEM spray booth rental. The guys there are really nice. If you don’t know Spanish, ask for Peter. I haven’t painted yet, just visited once, but they are patient and go out of their way to answer questions.

The booth is 35’ long and has a 13’5” tall door.

$200 for 3 hours in the booth.

[Danjo]

I think it’s a great idea.

IDK about making a sticky to start. Seems like the best things to be one happen organically like CadillacKid’s THINK post. You know, more like articles written by those that are authoritative.