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Tue Oct 06, 2009 12:51 am

So i've had my bus for a year now and i think i'm gonna paint it this weekend. Just a cheap Rustoleum type, at home paint job 8) . I want to do like an Olive Green below the belt line and then like a Cloud White or some kind a white above the belt line. Just wonderin if anyone had this paint scheme so I could see what it looked like.

Here's my bus all primed and ready to go. Oh yeah, should I sand the primer before I put the paint on? I was gonna roll it on by the way.

Tue Oct 06, 2009 1:46 am

You necessarily dont need primer for rustoluem, but its ok since you already did it. Make sure take off all the accessories, it will make the paint job more clean. I believe the izzardking's 71 has that rustoluem olive green but i cant find any pics of it in the gallery..

How exactly are you going to roll it on anyways, got a certain technique you are using? Check this thread out:http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=320572

It will probably answer most of your questions about your bus paint job.

Tue Oct 06, 2009 3:07 am

Man, spend the money and have it done right. That is a good looking bus. Don't cheap out on a paint job !!

Tue Oct 06, 2009 4:32 am

hansie wrote: Man, spend the money and have it done right. That is a good looking bus. Don't cheap out on a paint job !!

I agree!!! At least he used primer...

Tue Oct 06, 2009 5:36 am

hansie wrote: Man, spend the money and have it done right. That is a good looking bus. Don't cheap out on a paint job !!

Kind of like taping the window seals before spraying any primer :lol: Just a little ribbing, your bus is very nice looking and all of us East-Coasters drewl over straight/dry bodies like that. It's your bus and any paint or painting method that makes you the owner happy is what it's all about, especially on a budget. Now that is out of the way, if it were mine, I would rather have a $399 Macco job than to roll on Rustoluem. I like the color combo, post pics when its done.

Tue Oct 06, 2009 6:34 am

hansie wrote: Man, spend the money and have it done right. That is a good looking bus. Don't cheap out on a paint job !!

Pretty easy to spend someone else's money isn't it? Nothing wrong with a budget rustoleum paintjob and as is seen all over the Rolling on the Tremclad thread, it can be made to look pretty good...it's durable, easy to touch up, and can be done for less than $100. Obviously in a perfect world you drop it off at the body shop and pick it up when it's done but unfortunately for most of us cost is a concern when considering a repaint. Any decent pro respray is gonna run you $3K minimum, with at least $1K of that being materials alone. I'd much prefer a rustoleum job I did myself to a cheap Maaco job, and in the end the rustoleum is gonna look a hell of a lot better, for less money.

Tue Oct 06, 2009 7:17 am

Well said V-DubTech. Look at the Rolling on the Tremclad thread and checkout some of the very well done paint jobs there. If money is tight, it's the way to go.

Tue Oct 06, 2009 9:20 am

Tue Oct 06, 2009 9:26 am

Hear is an thought; head to your local rental place, rent a compressor and a spray gun for the day ($50 ish.) Add the cost of a can of hardener for the Rustoleum enamel you were going to buy anyway ($8 ish) and a quart of thinner ($10 ish.) Make sure the thinner is the correct type for the Rustoleum. The can will tell you what to use. and have yourself a party.
It is way easier than you think it is to spray it. Test a few times on some old paneling, or sheet metal or something to get the feel for it. If it starts to develop lots of runs, get out the roller and fix it. I have sprayed cars with Rustoleum and a hardener before, it really looks good. If you don't add the hardener, the paint will go flat on you in about a year. You can get two or three years with the hardener. Cheap insurance. Follow the instructions and pull the trigger. The quality of the job is more determined by the prep and the masking than the way you apply the paint. As the "Rolling on the Tremclad" thread says, it can look really good. Whichever way you choose, tape it off well and make sure it is smooth and it will turn out great. If you spray it, just be sure to clean the gun within a few hours of completion if you use hardener. The hardener will cause the paint to harden in the gun. Wash things up with an inexpensive paint thinner to prevent this.
Pics of the job completed will be nice. Have fun. (it really is!)

Tue Oct 06, 2009 10:16 am

kevinrco wrote: Well said V-DubTech. Look at the Rolling on the Tremclad thread and checkout some of the very well done paint jobs there. If money is tight, it's the way to go.

You agreed with VDubTech? I must have stepped into the Twilight Zone :lol:

Tue Oct 06, 2009 11:03 am

Yeah i've been following that "Rolling On The Treamclad" thread for a while and that's where I got the inspiration to go for it. As for the primer, that's actually how i bought it ($2,000 running :D) , so I haven't put much work into the body at all. The only problem I have with spraying it is i've never used a spray gun before and some of the guys that just rolled it on came out great. I was gonna take the bumpers, lights, and all the other goodies off before i did it. As for a technique, nope don't got one. Any suggestions?

And honestly I don't want a real nice paint job. I don't mind if it looks a tad ratty and if I see some scratches some where it won't bother me. And like everything else on my bus that I have worked on myself was a pain in the ass doin it but I did it and in all, it's always fun and good times. So a nice, cheap, self done paint job is exactly what I want for my bus man.

This is a roll on rustoleum paint job and if you think that's not sexy then you got problems

Tue Oct 06, 2009 11:05 am

Quote: kevinrco wrote:
Well said V-DubTech. Look at the Rolling on the Tremclad thread and checkout some of the very well done paint jobs there. If money is tight, it's the way to go.

Quote:
You agreed with VDubTech? I must have stepped into the Twilight Zone

:lol: :lol: Yeah, I kinda thought of that as I was writing. Hey, he wasnt being snide! Rare

Tue Oct 06, 2009 11:20 am

halfmoonak wrote:
This is a roll on rustoleum paint job and if you think that's not sexy then you got problems

That looks amazing. This has given me hope for repainting my obnoxious yellow bus sooner than later. I also don't want perfect paint - we go camping a lot and in Colorado, where any car has dents from rock chips, it just doesn't make sense to have a pretty paint job.

Tue Oct 06, 2009 11:32 am

RIOMX wrote: halfmoonak wrote:
This is a roll on rustoleum paint job and if you think that's not sexy then you got problems

That looks amazing. This has given me hope for repainting my obnoxious yellow bus sooner than later. I also don't want perfect paint - we go camping a lot and in Colorado, where any car has dents from rock chips, it just doesn't make sense to have a pretty paint job.

Thanks guys, the Split Window in the pic is mine-here's what it looked like when I brought it home:

Tue Oct 06, 2009 4:17 pm

I am in the process of fixing the body of mine before I do the same (rust-o-leum). I have looked at the pictures of rolling on the tremclad and think all look good for a bus. I wil be doing the rusto grey on bottom and white on top.
Funny DDWbeagles mentioned taping off seals before priming. He was doing exactly that to mine this weekend. Better yet I get to sand all that hard work off to do body work.......brothers...

Tue Oct 06, 2009 4:54 pm

http://www.busselecta.com/bus/

This is fun to play with.

Tue Oct 06, 2009 5:11 pm

A couple more questions:

1)what type of roller do I use?
2)I wasn't going to actually use Rustoleum as they don't make an olive green color and was going to use an oil based enamel at a hardware store and have them mix it up. I read that this is not as glossy? Anyone with any experience with it?
3)Should I use a clear coat?
4)Any tips or suggestions?

Tue Oct 06, 2009 6:28 pm

I have read the roller should be the high density foam roller, usually in a 4" length. Home Depot and/ or Lowes carries them as I have just bought a couple for my project. I was in Tractor Supply (don't know if you have one near) and they sell tractor paint in a color that I think may be to your liking. I believe some of the members here have given this a good thumbs up for the roller method, as well they sell a hardner for their paint as well. Tractor Supply carries two different grades of paint. The standard tractor / implement paint that could be used for the roller method and a renovation series that states for spray only. They actually have some pretty cool stuff in there. Check one out if you have one near you. (not affiliated with Tractor Supply)

Tue Oct 06, 2009 7:08 pm

halfmoonak wrote: A couple more questions:

1)what type of roller do I use?
2)I wasn't going to actually use Rustoleum as they don't make an olive green color and was going to use an oil based enamel at a hardware store and have them mix it up. I read that this is not as glossy? Anyone with any experience with it?
3)Should I use a clear coat?
4)Any tips or suggestions?

You dont have to clear coat it... Just wetsand with 2000 grit wetsand paper and buff away... It will come out NICE!!! I wetsanded every 2 coats of paint and made the paint thin on every coat. I have NO orange peel at all.. The nice thing is, if you get a scratch, wetsand and buff... if the scratch is deep, put on a touchup of Rusto and also buff... Very easy... I was determined to prove that this method worked and I am happy with the results...

Also, I tried several businesses that mix the oil based paint to any color. I tried Sherwin Williams, Ace Hardware and (2) local hardware stores. The mixed paint does not come out as glossy as compared to a stock color of Rustoleum. If you are not worried about a high amount of gloss, the rust protection should be the same as Rustoleum. Another member, fireman9027, also had the same results of mixed oil based paints not being as glossy as Rustoleum.

Here are my results using Rustoleum 3 posts down:

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3...;start=200

Tue Oct 06, 2009 8:57 pm

kell1968 wrote: Funny DDWbeagles mentioned taping off seals before priming. He was doing exactly that to mine this weekend. Better yet I get to sand all that hard work off to do body work.......brothers...

C'mon bro if you gonna go public tell the "whole story". It's amazing how two people can be at the same place, same time, but have such differeing memories of what took place. Here is my account of same

* Taping seals - what seals? The cracks and crevises in what was left of those fourty year old OG seals would make the Grand Canyon envious...lol :lol:

* I remember me doing a crap load of hard work from sun up until sun down and only seeing you stroll by in your bermuda shorts, sipping on a girlie drink with and umbrella sticking in it, only to stop and ask if I had a cigarette you could bum. [-o<

* Finally, after two full days working on your van, I left it looking 1000x better than before it started.

On a serious note, get some pics posted up here and start a resto thread. Your bus is progressing nicely and it's certainly something you should be proud of.