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Bus Discussion => Bus Topics ( click here for quick start! ) => Topic started by: Beatenbo on March 19, 2014, 09:42:51 PM

Title: Bus Paint
Post by: Beatenbo on March 19, 2014, 09:42:51 PM
Any body know whop might do a simple if such a think one color paint job in Atlanta, GA area no graphics or speciality
Title: Re: Bus Paint
Post by: TomC on March 20, 2014, 07:04:09 AM
Don't know quite what you're asking. Advice-read your statement to yourself and correct your mistakes before sending. Good Luck, TomC
Title: Re: Bus Paint
Post by: wg4t50 on March 20, 2014, 07:16:43 AM
My guess, he is looking for an el-cheapo paint job in one color, I would get a mop & 5 gal bucket of paint  ;D
Dave M
Title: Re: Bus Paint
Post by: scanzel on March 20, 2014, 07:18:52 AM
Yes it needs correcting but I think he is looking for a shop that could accomodate his bus and do a quick and simple paint job with nothing fancy. Will not be cheap just a quick and simple on mine is quoted $8000 to $10,000.00
Title: Re: Bus Paint
Post by: TomC on March 20, 2014, 07:52:44 AM
My paint job-including some minor body work, was $11,000.00 in 2000. My bus is white with dove gray and black stripes. Good Luck, TomC
Title: Re: Bus Paint
Post by: dukegrad98 on March 20, 2014, 08:20:44 AM
Find a local high school or junior college / trade school with a paint and body program. 

Cheers, John
Title: Re: Bus Paint
Post by: LowTide on March 20, 2014, 12:12:14 PM
Wish I could help, but I am going to paint mine myself. Looking at these prices makes me want to start offering paint jobs and graphics.
Title: Re: Re: Bus Paint
Post by: Seangie on March 20, 2014, 05:30:25 PM
Dukegrad nailed it.  Most tech schools with a bodyshop would love to get their hands on a bus to paint ;)

Fulltiming somewhere in the USA
1984 Eagle 10S
www.herdofturtles.org (http://www.herdofturtles.org)
Title: Re: Bus Paint
Post by: luvrbus on March 20, 2014, 05:42:46 PM
Prison systems in Texas and AZ will paint for the cost of material I am sure other states have the same programs they do have top notch equipment and teachers fwiw or pay Mike Wilson 20 grand  ::)   
Title: Re: Bus Paint
Post by: wildbob24 on March 20, 2014, 05:51:52 PM
The only place I know of with a big spay booth in the Atlanta area is Atlanta Custom Coach down in Palmetto. Probably won't be particularly cheap but it won't hurt to contact them and get a quote.

Bob
Title: Re: Bus Paint
Post by: luvrbus on March 20, 2014, 06:19:17 PM
I was with Mike when he was training some guys at Vanguard Volvo outside Atlanta I don't remember the town but they had 2 new 70 ft paint booths and were doing a Prevost at that time check Vanguard it may work for you     
Title: Re: Bus Paint
Post by: wildbob24 on March 20, 2014, 07:16:12 PM
Vanguard Volvo is in Forest Park, just south of Atlanta.

Bob
Title: Re: Bus Paint
Post by: wg4t50 on March 20, 2014, 10:48:01 PM
About 3 years ago, I had a full body paint inclouding roof by Xtreme Paint & Graphics in east Texas, took about 5 weeks,   A wonderful result, then the upgrades started etc etc.
If I were keeping track, paint & upgrades, but also include house type 24.5 cf Samsung refrig, ceramic flooring, large LED TV's, all LED lighting etc etc & etc.

Dave M

http://www.xtremegraphics.net/ (http://www.xtremegraphics.net/)
http://www.xtremegraphics.net/ourwork/fullpaint/?action=view&PID=67 (http://www.xtremegraphics.net/ourwork/fullpaint/?action=view&PID=67)
Title: Re: Bus Paint
Post by: shelled on March 21, 2014, 10:52:04 AM
About 2 years ago, I got an estimate from the office personnel at Darby Diesel south of Dallas, Tx to paint a 4107.  They gave me a range of 3 to 6 thousand for a simple one or two color paint job on the upper part of the 4107 depending on the preparation work needed.

Darby does mostly truck work with customers from individual bus collectors to FedEx.  Other posts here refer to places the mostly cater to the trucking trade which is a lot more sensitive to price than any luxury RV or coach specialist.  Food for thought.

Also, in my dealings with special interest cars, I found that half or more of the cost of a good paint job is in the preparation labor.  Even simple things like removing trim that you don't want painted and masking areas like windows and non-removable trim can make a major difference in the price of a paint job.  Of course, the paint shop rarely tells you about that -- you must ask them and discuss exactly what prep work you will do.  If the paint shop will not even discuss this, it's a pretty good indication that their prices have little or nothing to do with the quality of their work.  Oops...

e3
Title: Re: Bus Paint
Post by: dukegrad98 on March 22, 2014, 12:33:32 PM
A lot of paint shops won't shoot over home prep work because they cannot control the quality.  In my experience, the shops that will shoot your paint after a DIY prep job offer no guarantee on the work.  Additional food for thought.

Cheers, John
Title: Re: Bus Paint
Post by: bottomacher on March 25, 2014, 07:45:22 AM
Anyone who has a paint booth large enough is not going to do it cheap. The paint can easily cost a couple of thousand, and there's lots of labor.
Title: Re: Bus Paint
Post by: Nineforever on March 27, 2014, 08:01:12 AM
I ended up painting myself , bought premixed automotive paint ( White ) and primer threw Napa , bought spray gun and pressure regulator and water filter , wire disks for electric drill from Canadian Tire  for stripping old paint off ( hired some students after school ) also some sanding papper and sanding bar .
Hugn plastic on the walls in my garage .... used ventiator mask and sprayed myself ..... need to bleed water seperator several times . Paint turned out great there was a couple of runs , cause i didnt bleed of water when i needed to . After finishing primer coat  i cranked up the heat in the garage left over night then gave it a light sanding before i put paint .
Saved thousands and thousands i think my total  cost was about 1200.00
There is a couple of spots all redo mask off and repaint this summer , but no big deal .
Title: Re: Bus Paint
Post by: Dave5Cs on March 27, 2014, 03:33:56 PM
So wheres the pictures we like pictures?!...... :o 8)
Title: Re: Bus Paint
Post by: Nineforever on March 27, 2014, 06:15:00 PM
I would but cant figure out how to attach photos  , i could send to other members email maybe they could post for me
Title: Re: Bus Paint
Post by: Dreamscape on March 28, 2014, 05:12:44 PM
If you look in the Board Help section, there are a lot of ideas about posting photos. Here is one that I have.

http://www.busconversions.com/bbs/index.php?topic=13997.0 (http://www.busconversions.com/bbs/index.php?topic=13997.0)
Title: Re: Bus Paint
Post by: Bob & Tracey on March 29, 2014, 07:44:29 AM
I almost hate to ask... Has anybody tried latex? I know it is being used on boats and airplanes.
Title: Re: Bus Paint
Post by: digesterman on March 29, 2014, 11:46:29 AM
Personally I would never use a water based paint but here is an interesting article some might find informative.

http://www.cars.com/go/advice/Story.jsp?section=maintenance&subject=paint&story=Paint101&referer=advice (http://www.cars.com/go/advice/Story.jsp?section=maintenance&subject=paint&story=Paint101&referer=advice)
Title: Surplus Good Paint Plus Hand Brushing It Yourself?
Post by: HB of CJ on March 29, 2014, 03:26:01 PM
Years ago, (here we go again) Douglas Aircraft Corporation had a surplus sales yard geared to the aircraft assembly industry.  Long Beach CA on the North side of the airport.  One could buy surplus very very expensive airplane paint very very cheap.  We did and hand sprayed painted a very nice, (at the time) 1963 Ford One Ton flatbed duelly.

High school auto shop 2 painting project.

Are there any industrial surplus outlets in the Atlanta area?  Big area, might be.  Maybe you can find enough surplus high end paint to do your bus.  Excellent answers already given.  You would not believe the regulations now required to have that legal large bus or truck size paint booth.  The permits are extremely expensive.  HB of CJ (old coot)

Also....have you considered turning an expense into a fun project and try to hand brush paint your Bus Conversion?  Certainly makes things less expensive.....and perhaps more fun also. :)
Title: Re: Bus Paint
Post by: bottomacher on November 06, 2014, 05:50:34 AM
Our friends at the EPA have made sure that NO ONE has a conforming spray facility that is big enough to paint a bus at a budget price. As for doing the work yourself, most shops would not mind if you strip off the old paint, provided that the stripper residue is cleaned off properly (It's going to get into places that may allow it to bleed into the paint later). Don't prime it without their consent. However, if you're going to go that far, by all means paint it yourself. Do your chemistry homework, learn about retarders and levelers and additives for whatever and avoid the fancy stuff. I would personally use a fleet acrylic enamel, tape it off, and paint in sections. It won't look like Picasso (actually, it might!) but it will look a lot better than a spotted, ugly 15 ton  lawn ornament. And you can do all your driving at night. This hobby is all about doing it your way, and you can't do it if you don't try. It's also good to know your own embarrassment threshold. Good luck.
Title: Re: Bus Paint
Post by: Oonrahnjay on November 06, 2014, 05:59:28 AM
Quote from: bottomacher on November 06, 2014, 05:50:34 AM
Our friends at the EPA have made sure that NO ONE has a conforming spray facility that is big enough to paint a bus at a budget price. As for doing the work yourself, most shops would not mind if you strip off the old paint, provided that the stripper residue is cleaned off properly (It's going to get into places that may allow it to bleed into the paint later). Don't prime it without their consent. However, if you're going to go that far, by all means paint it yourself. Do your chemistry homework, learn about retarders and levelers and additives for whatever and avoid the fancy stuff. I would personally use a fleet acrylic enamel, tape it off, and paint in sections. It won't look like Picasso (actually, it might!) but it will look a lot better than a spotted, ugly 15 ton  lawn ornament. And you can do all your driving at night. This hobby is all about doing it your way, and you can't do it if you don't try. It's also good to know your own embarrassment threshold. Good luck.

   "spotted, ugly 15 ton  lawn ornament" - I love it!   Remember the 60/100 rule -- "If it looks OK when you're driving past someone at 60 MPH and you're 100 feet from them, you're OK!"
Title: Re: Bus Paint
Post by: Debo on November 07, 2014, 03:04:08 AM
I'm probably in the minority, but I did mine myself. I've painted a few sailboats in my life, and I just removed the trim and prepped the way one preps for that kind of job. I did it using the "roll and tip" method with Interlux Brightside boat paint. (My bus doesn't know it's not a boat.) It's not difficult to get excellent results rolling and tipping, and mine looks like it was sprayed on. It just takes patience, and knowing that 95% of a quality paint job is in the prep work. If you're not a painter, there's tons of free, useful information on the Interlux website. Of course it's a single-color job, but I don't have ten grand lying around for a paint job. I probably have a couple of hundred bucks in it in materials.

Title: Re: Bus Paint
Post by: Ace on November 08, 2014, 08:01:15 AM
Ten grand is cheap! They just yesterday quoted me 37k$ for a paint job, and it didn't matter if it was one single color or multiple! Only way it goes up if you add graphics. Ten week turn around! Uh I don't think so!
Heck my bus ain't worth much more than that ands I told him so.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Title: Re: Bus Paint
Post by: luvrbus on November 09, 2014, 01:31:31 PM
I got 3 quotes to redo just the clear coat they were 11k up to 15k
Title: Re: Bus Paint
Post by: Oonrahnjay on November 10, 2014, 02:48:02 PM
Quote from: luvrbus on November 09, 2014, 01:31:31 PMI got 3 quotes to redo just the clear coat they were 11k up to 15k

      A bucket of latex house paint and a mop is starting to look better all the time!
Title: Re: Bus Paint
Post by: Jim Eh. on November 10, 2014, 06:25:39 PM
Just as in welding, you don't have to be a good painter .... just a good sander!
Title: Re: Bus Paint
Post by: Midwilshire on November 14, 2014, 05:26:48 PM
Painted our bus ourselves for $35 using Massy Ferguson grey tractor paint from one of those Fleet & Farm places.  Looks fantastic.  Got an aerosol can of same color for touchups.

The price quotes in the posts above are more than I paid for the bus. 

Title: Re: Bus Paint
Post by: sparkplug188 on November 14, 2014, 05:48:12 PM
How did you apply the paint? (automotive air sprayer, aerosol cans, roller?)  How glossy is it?

Edit: I found your paint post in the Bus Projects section: http://www.busconversions.com/bbs/index.php?topic=23466.msg271281#msg271281 (http://www.busconversions.com/bbs/index.php?topic=23466.msg271281#msg271281)
Many of your progress videos in that thread are private, access denied.   :-[
The the final result video looks a lot better than I expected. There are a few more pictures with better detail near the bottom of the thread.  The paint looks like it is low to semi-gloss.  I like how it hides little waves in the siding. I think it looks really good, even close up.  IMO extremely high gloss automotive paint doesn't look good unless the siding is perfectly flat. Distorted reflections just ruin the high gloss look for me.
Title: Re: Bus Paint
Post by: Midwilshire on November 14, 2014, 06:38:02 PM
Quote from: sparkplug188 on November 14, 2014, 05:48:12 PM
How did you apply the paint? (automotive air sprayer, aerosol cans, roller?)  How glossy is it?

Yep, sprayer and it turned out semi-gloss and quite nice.

Sorry about the "private" videos.  I'll have the tech genius (wife) remedy that shortly. 

We have a lot more videos to post as well.  The last post shows basically an empty shell, but now (at 2.5 years into the project) we're full-timing and within striking distance of uttering the word "done."  So, lots to update in the project thread in the days and weeks ahead. 
Title: Re: Bus Paint
Post by: Tom Y on November 15, 2014, 05:36:05 PM
I painted mine myself with one step urethane, no clear coat. Not to bad if you stay 10-20 feet away. Biggest problem for me was seeing the paint to avoid runs or dry spots, and picking the color. Bought paint from an industrial paint mixer local and great to do business with. Would not do another in my garage. I had one side done and did not like the blue/ green color on the bottom so we re did it (wife and I)  Tom 
Title: Re: Bus Paint
Post by: Tom Y on November 15, 2014, 05:38:56 PM
Here is what it looks like. I know some don't like the RV paint look but that's what we wanted. 
Title: Re: Bus Paint
Post by: Jim Eh. on November 16, 2014, 08:41:48 PM
Nice job. Kudos. BTW, still looks like a bus. :)