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Wed May 21, 2008 9:05 am

By "virgin solvents" I mean use only new, clean stuff. I guess that was sort of a no-brainer, but the gas idea made me think.

Wed May 21, 2008 9:46 am

O Lord! I knew the soup Nazis from the paint and body forum would not be able to restrain themselves much longer. I have wiped down maybe 200 vehicles with gas prior to painting them, It was wrong, I should have spent a lot more for a proper petroleum based solvent, as I did for the other thousand, I apologize.

Wed May 21, 2008 10:57 am

jtauxe wrote: By "virgin solvents" I mean use only new, clean stuff. I guess that was sort of a no-brainer, but the gas idea made me think.

OHHH!!!! :oops: For some reason I though you meant Mineral Water or something on the line of that!!! Using new rags and stuff….yeah....no brainier. Get it now...feel stupid....thanks for not rubbing it in!! :lol:

Wed May 21, 2008 11:22 am

Well I feel stupid. I just sanded the rough spots on the old paint. Then I wiped it down with water and rags. I didnt take too much time on the wiping down and only ran into a few oily spots. After the primer dried on those spots I just sprayed it again. Came out okay. We will see. The ants were the worst part. When I was painting the pop-top and got down to the seal they started swarming out. So I stoped and let them die off and dry out the sanded and re painted.

Wed May 21, 2008 11:48 am

Here is a pic of an 18 year old rattle can paint job. It no longer looks its best as it has been parked for the last three years since I pulled its engine and stuffed it into another bus. A good washing would make it look great again. I removed all the trim pieces, washed it well with soapy water, and then wet sanded it, followed by by primer where needed and then two coats of Rustoleum on the sides and back, and four coats on the front, wet sanding between coats.

The color was "Adobe" which Rustoleum no longer sells, it was a prefect match for the original VW orange. I purchased sixteen 16oz cans of paint which I bought as old stock for $1 a can, and used only 13 so I had three cans left as touch up had I needed them. I only did the windshield area and a few other places of the upper body with white Rustoleum spray paint and never did the top which accounts for the white chalkiness that has run down over the orange paint.

Wed May 21, 2008 11:49 am

TheTominator wrote: O Lord! I knew the soup Nazis from the paint and body forum would not be able to restrain themselves much longer. I have wiped down maybe 200 vehicles with gas prior to painting them, It was wrong, I should have spent a lot more for a proper petroleum based solvent, as I did for the other thousand, I apologize. Well, that was uncalled-for. I am not a Nazi (though I do admit to driving one of their inventions), nor am I from the paint and body forum. I do know a bit of organic chemistry, though, and that is what inspired my post. I also feel that one should use the right tool for the job. But - hey.

If gasoline works for you, then by all means pour it on. No need to move into attack mode, despite your moniker.

Wed May 21, 2008 2:20 pm

whats the key to dividing the orange from the white on the belly band? masking tape, etc. I am getting ready to paint mine as well with a roller and am intimidated by trying to make the 2 tone line well...

Wed May 21, 2008 9:09 pm

Yep, just masking tape. Take your time applying it so you get it on nice and straight. IMHO it is worth buying the more expensive stuff so that it comes off easily in one piece and can be left on longer if need be.

Thu May 22, 2008 6:32 am

Walrus: if you are going to mask off and paint those graphics on yours bus as in the photo you posted, get some vinyl tape no more than 1/4" wide. You can layout those curves much easier than trying to "bend" standard masking tape or even worse trying to cut the tape with a blade. Then fill in the area to be masked with standard tape and paper. It will give you a nice clean edge too.

Thu May 22, 2008 6:42 am

vwjw wrote: Walrus: if you are going to mask off and paint those graphics on yours bus as in the photo you posted, get some vinyl tape no more than 1/4" wide. You can layout those curves much easier than trying to "bend" standard masking tape or even worse trying to cut the tape with a blade. Then fill in the area to be masked with standard tape and paper. It will give you a nice clean edge too.

No, No, No.....I was just saying that his design was trippy!! I can't imagine laying that out and keeping my sanity!! :shock: I WAS thinking about some 70's retro stripes on the line of EZ Gruv's. I think I'm going to have a friend of mine who's a genius with Photoshop make something up.

Thu May 22, 2008 6:54 am

magnus0328 wrote: whats the key to dividing the orange from the white on the belly band? masking tape, etc. I am getting ready to paint mine as well with a roller and am intimidated by trying to make the 2 tone line well...

I just finished mine using a roller and some rattle cans. I practiced doing stripes first on my rabbit and I found that the trick is to burnish the edge of your masking tape really well. After I got the tape down and stuck in place, I took a small putty knife and ran it along the edge of the tape. It worked really well. I'll have to get some photos of it.

Thu May 22, 2008 6:55 am

Although the thread is called rattle-can, and some are talking about doing it that way, the OP and others mentioned using rollers. What are the strengths and weaknesses of either method for the bottom-dollar paint job?

Thu May 22, 2008 7:02 am

phip wrote: Although the thread is called rattle-can, and some are talking about doing it that way, the OP and others mentioned using rollers. What are the strengths and weaknesses of either method for the bottom-dollar paint job?

Well for me, the advantage of using the rollers was definitely the cost. I can't speak for how many rattle cans you would need to do a complete bus, but I got a gallon of safety red rustoleum on clearance for $6 at Lowe's and that was more than enough to finish the job.

It's messier, and probably slower though. If you don't have a booth you get a bazillion bugs in your paint, but maybe thats true for rattle can also.

Thu May 22, 2008 7:24 pm

I think the "$50 roller method" came out great for the money (actually only one quart of red and 1 1/2 white, plus roller brushes and solvents):
before

after

HUGE difference.
I highly recommend it if you have more time to invest than money you want to spend on it.

Thu May 22, 2008 7:58 pm

deadaheadub, do you have more pics that you can post or PM to me? I am getting ready to do mine next weekend... the white / red masking line appeared to come out pretty good... was this straight out of the can or did you thin the paint?

good job!

Thu May 22, 2008 9:18 pm

Here's my Rustolium paint job, in part...

Fri May 23, 2008 9:37 pm

1974 Westy. Here is the bus as I got it.

According to the PO, the paint job was 8 months old when I got it.
Its not bad, but they painted EVERYTHING, bumpers, top L20B Brilliant Orange.
I masked off everything below the pop top with a large plastic drop cloth.

Here is my pop top, painted with foam roller in Rustoleum Gloss White.

This is the top 3 days later, paint is DRY, looks nice and shiny though.

And my bumpers painted with rattle can Rustoleum Professional Gloss White.
I removed the front bumper and straightened it, sanded it, and sprayed it, then put it back on the bus.
I also painted the grill.

The rear bumper bolts wouldnt come loose after 2 days of PB Blaster on the nuts, so I masked it off with a plastic drop cloth, and painted it in place.

I also painted the muffler with Rustoleum High Temp semi-gloss black

I also painted the interior front floor, seat stands and seat stand backs with a rattle can.
I used Rustoleum Painters Choice "Real Orange" Enamel, its a near-perfect match for L20B, Brilliant Orange.

Had to weld up the area around the passenger seat bracket.

Looks nice after I installed the new seat stand mats :)

Fri May 23, 2008 9:47 pm

Is a seat stand mat a commonly available item? Who sells those?

Mark

Fri May 23, 2008 9:55 pm

markd89 wrote: Is a seat stand mat a commonly available item? Who sells those?

Mark
The ones I installed were made by Wolfsburg West, I bought them off of a Samba member. Bus Depot has them as well, you need two sets, the first http://www.busdepot.com/details.jsp?partnumber=211863665B goes on the top of the seat stand. The second http://www.busdepot.com/details.jsp?partnumber=211867765A go around the side/back of seat pedestals. This second set will work on all year buses, but according to the Bus Depot site "Will not completely cover rear section of passenger side of Westfalia w/swiveling seat.", so if your bus has a swivel, it will look different, but still a major improvement!

Sat May 24, 2008 7:36 am

I just got an air compressor and a carport for $160 (carport was the 160 the other was from a friends dad) and I plan on expanding the carport and sealing it off, adding some ventilation and a hose line from the garage and an outlet/light in it and I'll be sandblasting and painting soon! My friend did his MG with a roller and thinned out rustoleum and his turned out ok. He did make a pass with a spray gun once or twice after his kids got stuff on the first few coats that he rolled on though. He used a house spray gun the first time and sprayed literally half of the entire car in one pass! It was hilarious to watch him damn near run down the length of the car spraying this HUGE blast! HAHAHA! Good times.

What would be a good mixture ratio to thin out the rustoleum paint to spray with? I've got the air and the gun I just would rather do really good prep work and just spray with a good paint then throw on a clear coat or two. I'll be doing a little bit of sand blasting too so there will be a little bit of body work and welding and "straightening" going on. The most expensive part I'll probably be doing is blasting the underside, painting and undercoating it. Once I leave washington I'll be going to michigan and they use slat on the roads in the winter so I'll be wanting some good protection so I won't have to do it again very soon.

Sweet thread!