$50 Paint Job?

[Scott & Heather]

Back when Heather and I were wanting to paint our coach, we seriously considered the idea of rolling on acrylic-enamel. We eventually decided against it and ended up buying expensive Ford white paint and spraying the coach. Looks pretty good, but we decided to try the $50 paint job on our toad...removed emblems and taped everything today. Got a partial first coat on before it started pouring rain. In any case, we should be done by next week and I can post photos if anyone is remotely interested in doing this for their coach. Truth is, if you have no money, and want to spruce up the look of your coach, this might be a way. Labor intensive? Yes. Might it work? I'll let you know early next week. Truth is, a coach has mostly large expanses of flat sides/flatish roof, so a wide foam roller on a stick and a bunch of paint...just might be a cool/cheap way to get it looking at least decent. Not going into the chemistry of painting or the science of spraying v.s. rolling on etc. This is just for those of us who count every penny...and don't need $5000 worth of paint job on our coach.

[BRUISER]

very cool

I have rolled a few cars and if you take your time it will come out good..

I sanded in between every coat for a nice finish

[Scott & Heather]

very cool

I have rolled a few cars and if you take your time it will come out good..

I sanded in between every coat for a nice finish

Definite plan is to wet sand between coats. Orange peel is actually very minor because it's thinned out big time (Rustoleum Gloss White).

[Uglydog56]

I'm going to paint my bus this way in the summer, as I have 3 teenage sons aka infinite supply of free labor.  Probably just white with some basic 70's Winny pinstripes in brown & olive to keep the theme consistent.
Here is a linky for all you cheapskates:

http://www.rickwrench.com/index79master.htm?http://www.rickwrench.com/50dollarpaint.html

And the grandaddy of them all.  I guess there's 100 pages to this, and an updated best practices somewhere in it:

http://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=2331682&page=0&fpart=1&vc=1

There's also a guy on the skookie site that painted a bookmobile almond that turned out good.  I personally wouldn't pick almond, but I can't fault his decision.

http://www.skoolie.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=10497

[Scott & Heather]

Yep...those were the sites that inspired me. Hot Rod Magazine did a Falcon too. And even years later, the paint holds up. Definitely want to see what your bus looks like this summer when you're done.

[jjrbus]

Many years ago I laughed at two young men of a lower social economic group painting a car with brush's. Then I had to eat crow, it really looked good when they were done, surprisingly good!!

When I brush painted the wheels on my coach someone said here try this.

http://www.tractorsupply.com/valspar-enamel-hardner-8-fl-oz--3449669

It made a major difference in the brush-ability of the paint. May only be compatible with TS paint?    JIm

[Ed Hackenbruch]

Years ago a friend did a 2 tone brush job on an old 1956 Dodge panel truck. It turned out really well,...in fact i didn't find out until about a year or two later that the panel had been bought from one of my dad's neighbors. Didn't even recognize it. I also did a brush job on a 55 Ford wagon that didn't look too bad from a few feet away. Also did a rattle can job on a 67 Ford Cortina that made a big improvement in the looks.    Ahhh,.... the good old days. 

[Scott & Heather]

Jim,

I mixed my oil-based Rustoleum with mineral spirits. Literally a 50/50 mix. Otherwise the Rustoleum would literally take weeks to dry. I'd like to try this on my bus rims too...hmmm...

[Iceni John]

When (I say optimistically) I eventually paint my bus, it will be oil-based Rustoleum by roller and brush.   For now I have more time than cash, so a labor-intensive but inexpensive paintjob is my only option.   As long as it looks good from a few feet away I'll be happy.   One more advantage of Rustoleum:  touch-up is a cheap spray can available from almost anywhere.   Oh yes, another reason to roll it on:  I can surreptitiously do it in the RV yard where I park the bus.

The Rustoleum folk were telling me recently that the "good" formulation Rustoleum paints can no longer be sold in California, due to CARB and the air-Nazis (yup, the same unelected officials who require all old Crowns and Gilligs to be crushed if replaced by grant-subsidized disposabuses ).   They suggested that a trip to Arizona or Nevada may be worthwhile for me when I buy my paint . . .

Did you know that London Transport used to brush-paint their buses many years ago?   A freshly-painted LT bus looked as good as anything sprayed these days.   I guess that traditional craft skills were still dominant then, and labor was also relatively cheap.

John  

[Nusa]

You may not have to leave California...the LA basin is more restrictive than the rest of the state.
http://www.rustoleumibg.com/techinfo.asp?lvl=VOC&lvl2=VOCUS

VOC is most likely referring to Toluene or Xylene in the case of paints. Long term exposure can be a real health concern, but occasional use isn't an concern for most. Keep pregnant females away, it's a known risk to a developing fetus.

[Brassman]

I painted my bus with acrylic enamel applied by an airless. Looks good. The stuff doesn't roll or brush well onto hot metal. I'm not the type to sand a bus between coats, as is, it took three days to prep the thing for the first and only coat. Probably should of done it in two passes, just to reach every thing without wiggiling the sprayer (causes drips and runs). Acrylic enamel is twice the price of Rustoleum, but the thinner is free.

[artvonne]

  In ancient times....

  I read that RR was the last car company in the world to spray paint their cars. Before the advent of spray, everything was brush painted lacquer. Spray really took off after WW2, but RR held on into the 60's when it was simply deemed "antiquated". Before that period, spray paint was considered cheap.

  Generally about 57 color coats were applied by brush, with hand sanding between each coat, then 7 to 10 coats of clear brushed on with more of the same. Yep, nearly 70 coats of lacquer.

  Ive seen a lot of spray jobs that paled in comparison to a good brush or roller job, and in either case, sand paper and a buffer can hide a world of sins.

[Ralph7]

 You do know that All Fords in the 20's and some 30's were hand brushed laquer, and if the painter got a run in it he did not get paid and to sand N redo.
 The roof of my mc-8 needed 7gallons of Rustoleum  and I used cheap laquer thinner, througha china top loader low pressure gun outside.  First washed(scrubbed) with chlorine bleach, wiped with thinner, spray.  

[Oonrahnjay]

(snip) Did you know that London Transport used to brush-paint their buses many years ago?   A freshly-painted LT bus looked as good as anything sprayed these days.   I guess that traditional craft skills were still dominant then, and labor was also relatively cheap.  

    Back when I worked for Norton motorcycles (1970's), we were developing a program to provide custom paint on motorcycles.  I spent a couple of days down at Park Royal body builders.  I was amazed to find out that they painted all the "body in white" (i.e. finished primer bodies) for all the Rolls Royce bodies that they made with brushed paint and when they were doing custom bodies they were putting on the finished coats with brushes.  I asked them if that was OK with the RR factory and the paint shop foreman chuckled at me and told me that that was how they were all finished at the factory.

    Speaking of London buses, maintenance was considered a good thing once.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kf1MT1FPTuk&feature=related
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYfgjhC1s3U&feature=related  (although they're spraying)

[Jeremy]

I pad-painted an air-portable Land Rover once with enamel paint and lots of rubbing-down. Got a superb finish, and one which was completely out-of-place on an ex-military vehicle.

I've a book on professional vehicle refinishing which is actually the text-book for an academic course on the subject. Lots of chemistry and details of how different approaches to painting for car manufacturers of different sizes. The section on 'ultimate, cost-no-object' painting techniques describes how the royal coaches are painted (the horse-drawn carriages that Queenie rolls about in). And - you've guessed it - they're painted by hand.

Jeremy