TheSamba.com :: View topic

Mon Mar 08, 2010 12:29 am

I have a '67 panel van that was converted to a camper, from what it seems, at purchase. I have enough body work being done that keeping the original paint is not an option at this point. The original paint was Velvet Green, which I love the patina of, but not so much when fresh. I am leaning towards changing the color to Palm Green over Sand Green or Dark Brown over Beige. Any input?

Here is a pic for reference-

Mon Mar 08, 2010 12:50 am

both of those choices you are leaning towards are terrible in my opinion. I think you should paint the panel a single color that was offered for the vehicle in 1967. Anything else is going to look very wrong. Nothing worse than a late bus trying to look early.

$.02

Mon Mar 08, 2010 1:35 am

dont touch a thing, looks perfect

Mon Mar 08, 2010 2:11 am

What are you replacing that can't be blended? Anything bigger/worse than the nose crunch?

Velvet Green is my favorite color. How 'bout I trade you my Riviera that needs almost no metal work that you can repaint any color you want? I'm at least half serious. :lol:

Mon Mar 08, 2010 2:42 am

sfspanky wrote: Any input?

Here is a pic for reference-

Yes. You're nuts. Leave that alone! 8)

Mon Mar 08, 2010 3:47 am

Beautiful patina, velvet green, it's a no brainer leave it alone. If you wanted an early paint combo sell it and buy an early bus. I'm sure there are lot's of people who love that bus in her OG color including myself. :wink:

IMO there is nothing worse than changing a paint color unless the entire vehicle was stripped to body and media blasted inside and out. But you will surly loose the value of this bus by changing it's color.

sfspanky wrote: I have a '67 panel van that was converted to a camper, from what it seems, at purchase. I have enough body work being done that keeping the original paint is not an option at this point. The original paint was Velvet Green, which I love the patina of, but not so much when fresh. I am leaning towards changing the color to Palm Green over Sand Green or Dark Brown over Beige. Any input?

Here is a pic for reference-

Mon Mar 08, 2010 5:49 am

After reading dozens of these threads it's pretty clear what the majority opinions are. Maybe we could have a "What color should I paint my bus?" sticky.
1. The overwhelming majority of bus owners prefer saving the OG paint.
Just like metalwork in recent years, more people are doing paint
blending and they're getting better at it.
2. Second choice, paint it the original factory color.
3. Paint it a correct color for the year of the bus.
4. Do what you want.

Thread locked.

I'm just sayin'

Mon Mar 08, 2010 6:19 am

Wouldn't even be a question in my mind, leave it as it!

Mon Mar 08, 2010 8:18 am

is this a joke? if you want a pg/sg bus sell your panel and buy one.

that paint looks really nice imo

Mon Mar 08, 2010 10:10 am

Save the repaint money and use it to reskin the nose and fix any rust. Blend the repairs in, rub the paint out and enjoy.

Mon Mar 08, 2010 10:30 am

tough crowd here,what you guys cant see is that it has rusty cargo dr lowers,cargo dr rockers,smashed in corners,rusty right rear cargo floor,rusty front floors,amateur hour repair on the left "a" pillar,left dr needs replacing and rusted battery tray.

i think with all these repairs blending into the original paint is more than desperate,i love original paint too but at some point you need to know when to say when........sfspanky,be careful of the peanut galleries input,just a bunch of opinions and theres a saying.........

Mon Mar 08, 2010 10:35 am

Velvet Green is my favorite fried egg era color. I think it looks really nice. Just buy really cheap paint and park the bus in the sun to get it faded, it may take awhile. :)

Mon Mar 08, 2010 10:38 am

If you plan on keeping it, paint it whatever color floats your boat... If you plan on flipping it paint it OG.

The thing about new paint is it looks good and stops the rust (mostly)..

Mon Mar 08, 2010 10:39 am

1. Leave it alone
2. Blend it
3. Re paint it in it's original colour
4. Re paint it in an original colour for the year of your bus.
In that order.......since your asking :wink: , col.

Mon Mar 08, 2010 10:39 am

If you want good advice about body and paint, it would be helpful to give us enough information about the condition of the bus.

Now knowing what Adam said, I would recommend a repaint in single color velvet.

If you want an early bus color, buy an earlier bus.

Mon Mar 08, 2010 10:52 am

well guys,lets not forget that vw would paint your bus any color/s a customer wanted,they were in the business of selling cars,they 2 toned kombis/panels/trucks etc in the name of selling cars............

velvet green is nice but sfspanky has already stated that he isnt a fan of it,i think he started this thread to get some input/ideas for a color change,say things like "just buy a different bus that came that color" is ridiculous

believe it or not there are plenty of folks in the vw scene who could care less about original paint,i have to admit its kinda gotten out of hand.

i love original paint,but its got to be usable,in my opinion the very best attribute of original paint is that it tells the truth,a fantastic byproduct is that repainting an original finish car is easier to give an accurate estimate for the work....................working over repainted cars is alot harder and brings up lots more issues

Mon Mar 08, 2010 10:55 am

re paint it

Mon Mar 08, 2010 11:11 am

Dove blue! if you are going for a repaint.or leaveit alone, even your nose crunch is cool tho.For me it would depend, my funny money chunks are in multiples of 100 so spot repairs and blending as I go are the norm ,if your chunks are in multiples of 1000 then go for the repaint ,dig?

Mon Mar 08, 2010 11:22 am

x23 for no repaint- velvetgreen is one of my fave colours too (ed note see user ID) puh-leeze leave it be

if you do need to fix the nose have a look at http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=933743 he shot the bottom of the bus in "HOT ROD FLATZ MATT GREEN" which looks like a pretty good match to faded velvet green

I also like PG/SG but it looks silly IMHO on a fried egg bus and a panel at that if you want PG/SG buy a bus that came in that colour combo- i believe there is a dedicated thread on this

Mon Mar 08, 2010 11:28 am

Leave it alone and enjoy it for what it is, it has its own Characture
IMO :D