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Wed Aug 29, 2012 3:51 pm

My van, (formerly known as Goldy Han), is now pretty dialed in mechanically. This was the year for the outside to start looking as good as the inside.

First off, thanks to a few Samba friends for encouragement with this project. Tristar Eric has a beautiful syncro truck in original Escorial green, which where I first saw this color for real. Plummerdesign is the one other Westy I know of in Portland with this green and white paint scheme. Although I've yet to see it in person, his many gallery photos inspired me. And Kopasz showed me his schweeeet van right after it was back from paint and body work from the same guy, and his excellent work helped nudge me into action.

Details on the fine guy who did the work, Mike, are below.

Onto the Van . . .
26+ years of back roads and camping had taken a minor toll. There were no huge gaping caverns or rust issues to deal with, more of an assortment of small dingers and a few holes to fill.

I opted to go with completely new paint color. I wanted something fairly eye-catching yet low-key, ideally VW stock, and nonmetallic. Escorial Green was a color apparently used on some vanagons in the early 1980s, but is still pretty unusual to see, at least in the Pacific NW. Combining this green with a gloss white painted top I thought looked pretty sweet. As mentioned above, Samba member Plummerdesign has this exact scheme, and as imitation is the best form of flattery, I copied it directly. (Thanks Plummer-D!)

Before I brought the van to Mike, I prepped and put a primer coat on the Westy top. (Mike would've been happy to do this, but I thought I'd save a few bucks and do the easy prep bit myself.) Mike ended up spraying the final coat.

I used the one stage polyurethane gloss white Marine paint that many Sambanistas have used, with good results. I used 1 quart of Interlux Pre-Kote, and 1 quart of Interlux Brightside. My main suggestion for anyone doing this is to wait for proper weather, ideally low humidity and around 70°F. I tried painting in weather closer to 85°F, and the paint was drying a tad too quickly. Other than that, I was very happy with these products and the outcome. (Do a Samba search for < Interlux > to read more detailed threads about this product on the pop top.)

Here are a few photos of pop top painting, including one from halfway through to show the difference:

Here's the driver side, with the red arrows showing a few spots that needed some love.

Here's the passenger side, showing the same. The red arrows along the top are some holes where a heavy Dometic awning was mounted with some homemade metal brackets that I inherited from the PO.

I opted to remove the factory antenna entirely, as it was loose in its housing and was a source for rain getting into the van. (I installed a powered antenna directly to the stereo, which looks like a box of gum and attaches to the windshield with double-sided sticky tape.) Also, I had the typical rust spots at the lower corners on each side of the windshield.

Note driver-side windshield rust, and butt ugly silicone goop used to seal around the leaky antenna.

prep of the same spot, with fiberglass patch

after

Since I removed my refrigerator and never plan on reinstalling it, I chose to fill the fridge vent hole in the body, to remove another possible source of water intrusion.

prep work on the fridge vent hole, to be filled with some fiberglass

after - fridge vent hole is gone

The single biggest area of nasty rust was this silver dollar sized crusty at the top left of the rear hatch, yuck!

After

The biggest dent was in the rear right passenger corner.

Mike did a lot of work in this area with a spot welder and slide hammer to work out the dent. I had never seen these amazing tools in action before, and it was pretty cool to watch a master at work. This is a surprisingly delicate and painstaking process, and I'm happy with the result.

Mike using slide hammer

YouTube video of spot welder and slide hammer

lower rear right corner after, view 1

lower rear right corner after, view 2

masking and painting the door jams

rear hatch after. Yes, I chose to remove the VW badges. I do not plan to add new “Westfalia” stickers either. (I feel that our world is over-branded with corporate identities everywhere we look, and this is one small way to Fight the Power.)

driver-side after (The next two photos are after a 1,500 mile road trip, more than a few dirt roads, and no wash, so it's actually kind of dirty.)

passenger side after

And, since I know everyone's going to ask, the total cost was around $2300 and took two weeks. This included a new windshield and windshield seal, all bodywork, three stage paint job (2 types of primer, color, and clear coat) including door jams, and an additional 3-4 hours of prepping and spraying the final coat of white on the Westy roof. Only the windshield was removed. I now get daily complements from random strangers whenever I drive the van, which I have to say feels pretty damn good.

The guy I worked with is named Mike Fucciolo, who has a shop at SE 102nd and Foster in Portland. I highly recommend Mike. He is low key, friendly, approachable, and dedicated to getting you the outcome that you want. Prices are quite reasonable, and he kept me well informed throughout the whole process via regular texts and photos.

I would suggest to anyone who works with Mike that they not be in any big rush to get the job done. He is a craftsman who works a sometimes unusual schedule, and it's best to let him go at his own pace. This is not the Maaco “in and out in three days” kind of shop by any means. I would suggest with a van in similar condition to expect at least three weeks for the full job, and to be pleasantly surprised if it's faster than that.
Mike also encourages his customers to drop by, hang out, ask questions, keep him company, and pitch in and help when appropriate. If you want to learn a lot about how bodywork is done, this is a chance to do it. I knew nothing about body and paint, and it was a great learning experience the few times I did drop by.

If you want contact info for Mike, please send me a PM and I will provide it.

As it looks like I can't call her Goldy Han anymore, the new name, chosen by my 7 yo daughter, is Esmeralda.

Wed Aug 29, 2012 4:23 pm

Holy Cr@p Batman! That looks awesome. I have been putting off a badly needed paint job because I thought I would be spending $8K + for something decent. $2300 is completely reasonable. I will be visiting Mike for sure.

Thx for sharing JGo...

I guess you won't be listening to the radio anymore either...

Wed Aug 29, 2012 4:30 pm

=D>

Fantastic write-up and paint job.

Wed Aug 29, 2012 4:44 pm

Beautiful, nice color choice.

Wed Aug 29, 2012 4:45 pm

GWTWTLW wrote:
I guess you won't be listening to the radio anymore either...

Read my post again, Pete. :wink:

I got a tiny powered "hidden antenna" that's the size of a large pack of gum. It sticks to the inside of the windshield down low on the passenger side in an unobtrusive spot; works like a charm and it's only about $20. (The tools at Cartoys wanted like $80 for this; I laughed in their face and walked out!)

Sort of like this:
http://www.amazon.com/Hidden-Antenna-Motorcycle-Applications-Windshield/dp/B001QYSXAS

Wed Aug 29, 2012 4:59 pm

That looks fantastic! And kudos to your daughter for picking a great new name for your van!

Wed Aug 29, 2012 5:05 pm

Beeeeeeeutiful, thats my second favorite color.

Wed Aug 29, 2012 5:08 pm

Did you remove all the windows before the paint job? Looks wonderful by the way. :)

Wed Aug 29, 2012 5:30 pm

Love the color! :) Well done, looks great.

Wed Aug 29, 2012 5:42 pm

whynotvw wrote: Did you remove all the windows before the paint job? Looks wonderful by the way. :)

All windows stayed in except the front windshield.
(Removal of all windows would prolly have added added about $1,000 to the final price.)

Wed Aug 29, 2012 6:00 pm

WOWZERS!

Best green ever.

Wed Aug 29, 2012 6:00 pm

WOWZERS!

Best green ever.

Wed Aug 29, 2012 6:57 pm

Awesome! I love the color. This is what my wife wants to do within the next year. We now have white and she wants to go green, maybe even that color. I have told here that we dont want to change the color because of the inside color.

Can you show a pic with the doors open showing the inside and the door jams? Id like to know where the break is.

I may be contacting you in the future for more detailed info on the color.

Good choice!!

Pat

Wed Aug 29, 2012 7:05 pm

beautiful job!! love the color!

Wed Aug 29, 2012 7:26 pm

Wow, that is a really great green. I suspect you will have to accept constant enthusiastic comments from random folks as part of the Van's personality from now on. I painted a white Triumph Spitfire a factory Triumph kelly green similar to your green and nobody missed it wherever I drove.

Well done!

Doug

Wed Aug 29, 2012 7:28 pm

Nice work John! That's my favourite Vanagon colour scheme.. There's an '84 up in Ocean Park like that and I just love it. ;)

Wed Aug 29, 2012 7:34 pm

IdahoDoug wrote: Wow, that is a really great green. I suspect you will have to accept constant enthusiastic comments from random folks as part of the Van's personality from now on. I painted a white Triumph Spitfire a factory Triumph kelly green similar to your green and nobody missed it wherever I drove.

Well done!

Doug

One week ago British guy (who was a Triumph and Mini owner) in an nearby Yosemite campsite walked by an called it "British rally racing green".

On the other hand, the color bears a striking resemblance to the Waste Management garbage cans here in Portlandia, see garbage cans at the rear of the van! :wink:

Wed Aug 29, 2012 7:41 pm

The paint code for Escorial Green is: LT6A

touch up paint:
http://www.paintscratch.com/touch_up_paint/Volkswagen/1983-Volkswagen-Van-Escorial-Green-LT6A.html

Wed Aug 29, 2012 7:42 pm

John Deere green. I love it. I think you need to finish it off with yellow rims. Nice job!

Wed Aug 29, 2012 9:03 pm

Wow, inspiring to say the least!
and leave the cheezy mud flaps off...looks much better imo