Time for a new skin - paint, that is.

[Chaz]

I just made an appointment with my "friendly local sand storm maker".  It's time to start making my baby look "purty".  There are as many as 12-13 coats of paint on her and I just can't see adding to it. Plus, there is lots of "lifting in spots, etc. that would need hours and hours of hand work.

I'm going to start taping (duct) this afternoon and then hopefully get it to him tomorrow about noon to blast. He said it should be about $300.00. Helluva deal, I thought. But....that is as long as Murphy doesn't raise his ugly head.  I'm trying to brace myself for that. I know he will.
 
I'm only blasting/painting between the bays and up to a foot or so on to the top as I plan to "coat" the top with something (not sure yet) to protect ,and possibly insulate, the top. I bought 2 kits (4 gallons, hope that's enough.) of the Southern Polyurethanes light grey epoxy primer. About as good as you can do for the primer. It's some really good stuff and lays down wonderfully. I'll probably leave it in primer till next summer when I'll make her nice and shiny. I have plenty of "issues" with the body that I need to rectify and this way when I fix a spot, reprime it and it will look reasonably decent. (I too am one who likes to use it as I fix it up.) Plus, the epoxy is more like a semi-gloss that looks pretty good by itself and it's somewhat close to the color I am going to use as the final coat. (A silvery light blue, I think.) The present colors, black and brown, are faded down to look about like flat paint anyway.

  Well, wish me luck. I'm CERTAINLY going to need it. It feels like an overwhelmingly daunting undertaking. I'll be taking pix for you who are "voyeur". 

  Stay tuned!
    Chaz   (just a stressin)

[Dreamscape]

It's gonna look great! You have the right idea and approach! I had at least the same amount of paint on ours and I'm sure I took off a couple hundred pounds of dust! No, not the red stuff, OK! It was black and blue!

I get to redo mine and I'm going with Southern also!

Please post some pics!

Paul

[FloridaCliff]

Chaz,

I am going to blast mine too!

After really taking a good look at how much work would be involved in sanding around all those rivets, I
am going to have it media blasted too.

You definitely have the right idea.

Let me know all the struggles so mine will be easier....

You know I am rooting for Ya!

Cliff

[Chaz]

What kind of media, Cliff? I was going to do soda. It sounded good. They will come to you and you don't have to tape ANYTHING and easy clean up. But....... it's a bit "salty" ($$$$$$$) and I've been hearing some bad stories about the effects of the soda on paint if you don't get it clean.
When I had my '56 Chevy blasted they used ground up buttons. Basically, just little plastic pieces. Nice job.

I got the awning off tonite and all but 4 windows pre-taped. It will be a busy morning getting ready!!
  Later......

[FloridaCliff]

What kind of media, Cliff? I was going to do soda. It sounded good.

I was thinking of soda too.

I am going to do a little research on costs in my area.

Cliff

[miles2go]

I built a dual height scaffold out of some 2x4's in the back of a pickup truck, both heights allowed me to reach the top and midway up on my 4905. Planks for footing. I put aircraft stripper on her,  waited awhile, then took it off with a pressure washer (wearing goggles, rubber gloves, etc.). Did the whole coach twice and had a nice smooth bare metal coach, including the roof and around the rivets. She had 3 coats of old paint along the sides.

I then treated it all with phosphoric acid solution to etch it. Taped it up and primed then painted with 2k urethane as used on industrial machinery and commercial vehicles. It was fairly quick, easy, inexpensive (well the paint was a tad expensive), and turned out very nice. Glossy white roof and sides. Later I will add some color in the form of stripes, mural, design or whatever. But for now it is stark white and looks 100% better than the old charter livery. I used an automotive hvlp spray gun and it was a pain re-filling it a lot but no dry spots and quite a nice finish. A pressure pot would be nice to use but I was going for economy and did not want to buy one for one time use.

There was a nice satisfaction in getting to bare metal and doing it myself. if you've already made the appointment for soda blasting it is a bit late for this advice. Maybe it will give another some ideas though.

Andrew.

[ArtGill]

Chaz,
Pictures, Pictures or an article BCM.

Art

[rv_safetyman]

Sounds like you guys have thought about the blasting media. 

It is critical from what I can tell.  Using sand (and depending on the size and sharpness of the grit) can really do a ton of damage to a sheet metal surface.  In the hands of an aggressive blaster, you can warp every panel.

I was taking one of the Bus Conversion week-long conversion class (think 1999) and Mike K had a blaster come out and do a ***Futureliner***.  The guy warped every panel and I mean really warped (think an inch or more in places) them.  My opinion was that the bus (worth millions if well done) was ruined.  I think Mike owned the bus and often wonder what happened to it.

Jim

[ruthi]

It is exciting to see it all come together with new paint. Our turned into a LONG ordeal, but, it is done now.

[bottomacher]

I just painted my MC9; I stripped off about 8 to 14 coats of paint, depending on the area, with paint remover. That miserable water based white on the roof was the worst, but I got off every speck of paint in about five four-hour days (to avoid the direct sun) at a cost of just under $150 for the remover, and no damage. Not really that bad a job, and I'm 65.  Hell, the liquor bill was almost as much as the remover

[Chaz]

Did ya ever feel like ya bit off a little more than a mouthful??     
OOOoooooooooooooo..............................................

The old adage my Dad told me years ago rings true here: "A little paint and a lot of bondo hides a multitude of sins."

Wow wow wow.

Oh well, we're in it now. Actually, it doesn't seem quite as bad if you look at the ratio of stuff that needs "fixin" compared to the size of the old girl.  But, the bad thing is she is "raw" and I need to get her in primer by tomorrow night at 6:00. The aluminum is not so bad but the steel concerns me a bit.    And I just HATE deadlines. 

But, I have a plan of attack. All the spots that need "fixin" I spot primered today. ( It's VERY highly recommended to shoot the epoxy primer on before any body filler or seam sealer. It sticks, seals  and stays better. ) Then in the morning I'm going to hit the holes (not big, just many) with Fibertech by Evercoat. It's kinda like the old "Kitty hair" but supposedly much better. (Better be for what it costs!!  It's in an over sized tooth paste tube)  Then work that down wet and get on all the seams and spots that need personal manicuring and sanding - corners and such. Then re-tape all the stuff that I needed to take off to drive it and shoot it with 2 coats of epoxy. A buddy borrowed me his 2.5 gallon paint pot so I should be able to go to town if it works well.
  Here are some pix of what I have now:







I got more detail of the bad spots but I didn't think they were that interesting. Just dents and holes. 

By the way, I'm not sure as I would recommend blasting. I think it's fine and it seems to have worked out well for me, BUT, it is VERY messy...........VEEEEERY messy. We taped the hell outta things and I still have just short of a beach in the inside. Granted, it can all be cleaned but some wives and even some annal retentive owners would probably have a sh*t hemorrhage over the mess! I have to say, it's even killin me not to get in there and clean but I have a definite deadline I have to make.

I don't think he warped anything too much. Maybe just a little in some bad spots but she was "friendly" (wavy) anyway, but not too bad I don't think. Shiny paint will tell the tale. He did check the panels for straightness before he started so we knew about what we had. Seems OK.

I'd say he put in between 10 and 12 hours blasting her. There were somewhere around 6-8 coats of paint and multiple stripes. There was a pale yellow base coat that was pretty thick and took the most effort to cut off. But figure about that many hours of just blasting. Plus, about another 6-8 taping.

If you do attempt to do this, 2 things come to mind:
1.) prepare yourself for what could be lurking under the paint and possibly bondo. i.e. have someplace to put her in out of the elements or "KNOW" you have enough good weather to get her in primer before moisture. The problems you find under the paint could set your time frame back a bit. It did mine.
2.) Tape, tape, tape, tape, tape......... Then tape some more. Use good THICK duct tape where the blasting comes into contact with things you don't want blasted. Good masking tape elsewhere. I used "Duck Tape" brand duct tape. 3M was too thin. So it doesn't need to be a well known brand name to be a good tape for this. And I would NEVER use Gorilla Tape!!!! That is some bad @$# stuff!! Use that when you want to REEEEEALLY fix something!! It's tuff and VERY sticky!! I also used clear 4 mil. visqueen (spell? - clear plastic) for over the windows and skirt. A 20' x 25' sheet did me.

I'll keep ya all up on the progress but I need to go horizontal for now. I'm pooped and my deadline will be here in no time tomorrow.

g'nite..........

[Ericbsc]

I just finished the paint project. Ain't it funny how much BIGGER the bus looks from behind a paint gun!! LOL Good luck, looks like you got it ready for lots a primer!!

[Runcutter]

Chaz, I'm about to commit to having the 4107 painted.  The current plan is soda blasting.  In one of your earlier posts, you'd planned on soda, but you were reconsidering.  What did you end up using for blasting media?

Arthur

[Chaz]

Arthur,
  The guy saved up "used" Black Beauty. He didn't want to use "new" as it's too aggressive. It's a medium that "rounds off" as it's used.
  Be VERY careful if you use soda! You have to make sure you wash it ALL off. My painter reiterated that yesterday. And they should NEVER use silica sand. That stuff will kill ya. But like I mentioned when they did my '56 they used ground up plastic buttons. If you have a professional do it, they will know.
  Back out to start paintin!!!
   Chaz

[Chaz]

Just for the record................ I hate rivets. 

Back to it.