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Old 07-02-2008, 05:37 PM   #1
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Re: HELP with paint

i've painted 3 buses.

i think spraying i the way to go

i also think that not doing any prep work is more hassle down the road than it's worth. it's likely that if you don't do any sanding, the paint will be peeling in lots of places a year from now. Then you have a big problem....you can't re-paint it until you remove all the excess flaking paint, which would be a huge project. 2 guys can run around and quickly skuff up the paint on the entire bus in about an hour. well worth the time invested. Just take some 150 grit sand paper and either by hand with a sanding block, or with a cheap $20 orbital sander run around the bus and skuff the paint. you don't have to go all the way down to bare metal, just make the stock paint so it's not shiny anymore.

a word of advice....unless you live in a desert climate, don't wash your bus with water just before painting it. the water has a really bad habbit of getting trapped under the rub rails. when you run by with the paint sprayer, the water comes out ruining your paint. instead, wash the bus with good quality paper towels and or old cotton t-shirts soaked in mineral spirits. Might take a couple of trips around the bus to get all of the paint dust you just created by sanding, but this is definitely worth the effort.

then go ahead and shoot some primer....then paint. it'll look spectactular when done.

i don't know how tractor paint is, but regular rustoleam tends to fade after a year or so. To cure this problem, i like ot use a gallon of automotive clearcoat overtop of the rustoleam. keeps the paint looking nice and shiny for a long long time.

you can do all of this work in a 2 or 3 day stretch.

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Old 07-02-2008, 06:48 PM   #2
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Re: HELP with paint

i'm about 250 miles from chi town, but make it down there every now and again.

black seems to be my favorite color to paint buses, and it generally takes 2 coats. Really just 1 coat, but the 2nd is important to get all the spots you "missed" the first time.

clearcoat is expensive, so i tend to just use one gallon, start at the bottom and work my way up. Depending on how fast it sprays, you might not have enough to do the roof, which is ok, especially since you want to do the roof a differnt color.

i have no personal expierence with the fancy white roof insulating paint material. I did notice that having a roof rack is a HUGE bonus when it comes to keeping the sun from overheating the bus too early in the day.

when do ya wanna paint the bus? i might be coerced into coming down there. I have 3 days off in a row pretty much every week.
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Old 07-03-2008, 08:04 AM   #3
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Re: HELP with paint

I really appreciate all the tips. I am glad to hear it doesnt take too long to sand, I am partners with 3 other guys on this bus so we definitely have the man power. Also, we have plenty of sanders laying around. I am located in Illinois, so I will definitely skip the water- I am glad you saved me that nightmare headache. I have a few other questions for you:

1) What pressure would you use on the air sprayer?

i use a cheap hvlp gun, and run about 100 psi at the compressor, then the air travels through 100 feet of hose before it gets to the gun.

2) What nozzle size?

my gun had 2 sizes, i chose the big size.

3) Is it worth it to add this stuff on the roof for an apparent radient hear barrior - http://www.hytechsales.com/insulating_p ... tives.html
don't know, never used it. don't think i ever heard anyone regret putting it on.

4) we are planning on painting the roof white and the body red with black trim. Should we paint the white or the red first, I am assuming there will be some overspray as we paint one color and then we will mask to make the line for the other color.

i don't know if it really matters, but it's probably easier to paint red over top of the white. but masking after the paint dries is definately the way to go. it's worth the $20 or whatever it costs at sherwin williams paint store to buy a huge long roll of masking material.


5) should we just rattle can the trim and side stripes with black?

the right way to do it would be to mask and paint with the paint sprayer

6) Is red harder to paint than other colors?
i don't think so. i paint red flames, and it seems just like black, only different

7) How many coats of paint does it usually take?
2

clearcoat needs to be sprayed in 2 coats. the first is a "tach" coat or something to get things sticky, then a heavier shiny coat goes over top of that a few minutes later.

I know that is more than a few other questions, but I would appreciate the input. It sounds like we need to do the following:
1) Sand
2) Mineral spirit wipe down
3) 1 coat of primer
4) 3 coats of paint?
5) a few coats of clear coat

Also, if you are anywhere close to illinois (chicago area) we would probably be willing to pay for your help....interested?!? If not you should send me your email privately and we will send you something for all the great advice.

Thanks,

Chris
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Old 07-04-2008, 08:52 PM   #4
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Re: HELP with paint

I didn't sand mine, painted it with Rustoleum in a spray gun about 2 years ago, the paint isn't peeling (yet...).

As for thinning down Rustoleum, I don't think paint thinner is the right stuff, at least not on the gallon cans I bought. It required a 15% mix-down with Acetone for spray application... Just JYI
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Old 07-04-2008, 08:53 PM   #5
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Re: HELP with paint

Let me add that I didn't sand it, but it wasn't all shiney & smooth either, it was faded and rough and I think that has helped the paint stick to it...
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