How much paint does it take to paint a 45 foot bus ? Assume the bus is a white J4500 or H3-45 and properly prepped.
What kind of paint are people using these days ? Any thoughts on Eastwood single stage urethane ? Spray a clear coat over it for some UV protection ?
Thanks
on my 35 coach it took 1 gallon each Elastomeric White Roof Coating & clearcoat for the roof. Went with three color so bought three gallons each maybe a quart left in each, 1 1/4 gallon of clearcoat. Use PPG auto acrylic urethane
If you apply a clear coat, be sure to do recommended pre prep. Common to have clearcoat peeling if done wrong. Imron was the best several years ago. Our 04 was painted with it, looked just as nice 20 yers later. Don't know if it is around anymore.
Chewy is an auto body/painter in Puerto Penasco, Mexico. We talked about painting my bus a couple of years ago. He goes to San Diego, CA to buy Imron paint (you just can't use it in CA, but you can buy it). He quoted me $5000 to do my bus. Oh and he is good. I have seen his work.
Quote from: silversport on August 16, 2022, 09:20:24 PM
on my 35 coach it took 1 gallon each Elastomeric White Roof Coating & clearcoat for the roof. Went with three color so bought three gallons each maybe a quart left in each, 1 1/4 gallon of clearcoat. Use PPG auto acrylic urethane
I've see pictures of your bus before. I absolutely love the silver and charcoal colors. If I ever paint mine, that's what I'm going with.
Thanks for the replies.
$5000 is pretty reasonable. Is that a single color or ?
I'm in the auto collision repair industry. I don't do complete bus paint jobs but can answer any technical questions if you decide to tackle it yourself.
So... 8 or 9 gallons plus roof paint plus clear coat? Is that what we're looking at? No wonder red isn't used much.
Jim
Quote from: Bubbiebus on August 21, 2022, 03:47:29 AM
I'm in the auto collision repair industry. I don't do complete bus paint jobs but can answer any technical questions if you decide to tackle it yourself.
I bet a cold one you would not paint a 45ft x 13ft tall for 5000 bucks you cannot buy the base coat and clear coat for 5000 bucks lol I had a key mark painted on a bay door and I took the door to the guy and paid $790.00 good paint jobs are not cheap
Quote from: Bubbiebus on August 21, 2022, 03:47:29 AM
I'm in the auto collision repair industry. I don't do complete bus paint jobs but can answer any technical questions if you decide to tackle it yourself.
Thanks for offering your time and expertise! I have lots of questions. (Hope you're not sorry you asked)
I'm planning on painting our bus. The local shops have quoted starting points of $10,000. With all the work involved in a professional paint job, I'm not surprised. I've painted cars before, but with mixed results, so hoping you can steer in a good direction. First, I'll be painting outside, so keep that in mind. Our bus is a 45' MCI 102 DL3. I have access to a large air compressor, air line dryer, paint sprayer and other various bits and pieces for automotive body work and painting.
* Any tips for making sanding easier? I have an old pnuematic, but given that I'll hopefully have several people helping should I obtain something else? Orbital DA?
* The bus has some stickers on it from it's metro life. It also has some house paint that was slopped on it just before going to auction to hide the stickers. (Guess they didn't want anyone to mistake me for Houston Metro ;) ) Any tips for removing the stickers and the gloppy house paint?
* What sort of sanding schedule do you recommend? What grit should I be targeting for my final pass?
* Do you recommend a certain wash before sanding/painting? Degreasers?
* What type of paint should I be using to paint outdoors? (I'll probably go with a blue, or white with some sort of accent color. I'm unlikely to go with black or dark earth tones)
* I've seen some people use airless sprayers. Is that recommended for outdoor paint jobs? It seems they can use the paint more efficiently.
* I have aluminum skinned sides that have only a single coat of etching primer on them to prevent water staining. What prep work should I do on the Al to make sure paint sticks well?
* Considering that prep and body work will take several days, how long can I get away with between final sanding and first primer? If it rains in between what do I need to do?
* I've seen some owners use a textured paint (almost like a bed liner or Rhino coat). Can you advise on the pros/cons of something like that?
* I'm sure each paint has specific environmental tolerances, but can you give me parameters on temperature/humidity?
* When I go to paint, would it be best to paint early in the day and let the sun bake the paint or is there a better time of day?
* Should I attempt to prime/paint the bus in an entire day or break it up over several days?
* Do you have an opinion on vinyl wrapping a vehicle as big as a bus? Would there be any advantage/danger to painting the bus a basic paint and then covering it or accenting it with vinyl?
Thanks Bubbie!
Painting outside, the field of fire downwind can bankrupt you...
Painting the neighbour's property, or HER car...
Be careful!!
Happy coaching!
Buswarrior
Airless spray is not good for painting automotive type paints they are ok for 35 bucks a gal implement paint from Tractor Supply.A bus is a lot of work to paint to get paint job that looks good from 200 ft.
I couldn't tackle the job myself so I had Mike Wilson paint my Eagle>The DYI paint jobs do not need the high dollar paint guns the Pro's use it blows you away the thousands of dollars they pay for a paint gun
I have a cousin who regularly painted cars outdoors. His secret was to paint in the morning before the bugs woke up. The trick of course is to keep the dew from falling on the bus the night before. Can't exactly just pull it out of the garage.
HF sells some decent guns. I think they also have a paint pot. If it's like the ones I've seen it'll take a 1 gallon paint can or hold 3 gallons or so without the can. I might consider loaning you mine. I think it's a Binks but it's old.
I got a Milwaulkee 18v orbital that I like rather well With the big battery it goes just about as long as you would want to without a break. Switch batteries and go again. HF has discs for it.
Overspray is not a joke. Distance and dead air are your friends.
Those swoopy patterns still seem popular, I just wonder what could be done with red as a base... With a well thought out design you might be able to cover all the bad spots using the existing color as a base and then shoot the whole thing in clearcoat.
Jim
Based on the questions, it seems you have a big learning curve and not sure a big bus is the place to start. What I suggest you do is check Yvan LaCroix cruiser. He painted with that bedliner type stuff and its been a couple years. I thgink he's still happy with it.
If that suits you, it is by far the quickest and most acceptable looking finish. I would NOT do base/clear as this will show nearly every imperfection, meaning a huge amount of prep = time and labor.
The bedlinger is matte so most all slight imperfections won't be noticable and I am pretty sure the prep will be less too. Good luck
Don's right about the base/clear. But, that nice glossy finish does make just about anything look better. Sorta depends on how much of a perfectionist you are I guess. No question a single stage paint is the easiest. I was just thinking if you wanted to avoid a complete base coat respray that would bring the gloss back to the existing color and you could just concentrate on the accents. A very light pass with fine grit would be all you need to make the clear stick.
Jim
Yvan is in the bed liner business he doesn't have to pay the outrageous prices places charge to spray bed liner
Check out Raptor paint process.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYjQK2oF2W8
I thought Yvan's job ended or changed.
Quote from: chessie4905 on August 24, 2022, 06:15:51 PM
I thought Yvan's job ended or changed.
They did sell the business but they still have some of the equipment and suppliers contacts
For what it's worth, I rolled a nice 50/50 paint job on my bus with just a gallon or so of blue tractor paint. Granted, I was putting blue over blue and only had to fuss over the parts that aren't anodized aluminum, but it wasn't too bad. Depends heavily whether you're going for showroom quality or just 'better than present condition', remember that perfect can be the enemy of good.
We professionally painted our bus for under $1200. My son & I did all the prepping and masking in our shop. A professional mobile painter came in and designated all the equipment, materials, & paint that would be needed. The paint was around $600 & the painter's labor was around $600. Granted most of the labor & $$$ are in the prep & masking - painting was actually the easy part. IMO It's 8 yo now and standing up very well. It's not a fancy involved paint scheme. White roof, two brown bands and mostly anodized aluminum.
dan,
You may have spent that low amount but it is not anywhere in this galaxy what it costs today. :Look up body paint supplies. the cost of tape, thinners, materials for masking, etc. are out of sight. You'll spend hafl you spent just on this stuff. it all depends on how much surface you paint. Cost of decent auto paint is hundreds per gallon for white. Again, each bus is so different and what actually needs paint. Even with zero labor costs, it is an expensive project.
Don is correct. I did about 1/2 of one side on my sign board stripe about 24 inches wide by 15 foot long. Had the silver matched and they gave me 3/4 of a gallon of base for 248.00 pint of hardner 27.00 and 1/4 gallon of clear for 49.00, and reducer 15.00. Sanding disks 40 grit to 1500 grit as well as tape, paper and cutting & polishing compound. Spray gun Harbor freight was cheap for 47.00 and it worked well.
If the base was red it'd easily have been 2 or 3 times that much.
Jim
Inflation is a real Killer! Beyond what the wallet will hold. Like a ballon with too much air. According to the laws of gravity the whole world SUCKS. :o
Buying any mellitic paint now day will give you big one as Red Fox would say, a 1/2 paint of blue mellitic base coat with a paint of clear coat and harder cost me $280.00 6 months ago and I used rattle can primer