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Sun Jul 18, 2004 11:59 pm

i've just got a few questions about painting my bus. it's a 71 deluxe and has all the chrome trim in place. i want to repaint the top white. so far..i've sanded it down with steelwool and have been removing the surface rust. im just going to repaint it with some rust-o-lium spray paint for now. is there any step that is important that i must do when painting? thanks in advance...i'll post pics when im done.
omar

Mon Jul 19, 2004 4:36 am

Yeah. Use real auto paint, not spray paint!

Mon Jul 19, 2004 9:44 am

Spray paint is not the best answer.
Use sandpaper instead of steel wool.
Sand everything perfectly smooth.
Prime the bare metal.
Use real paint.

Thu Jul 22, 2004 11:28 pm

Everyone feels it neccessary to always use real car paint. I rolled on some house paint 5 years ago and I don't think it's faded at all. Rust-o-lium seems to me to be better then Krylon but I think its also more expensive. I would just sandpaper it to rough it up and Rattle can it. Rattle can the whole thing, if your not showing it and it looks good to you then who gives a rat's ass. Remeber spray cans are thinner paint and you'll have to use a lot of them to get it to look even. Car paint will always look better and probably last longer but financially if you can't do that then just rattle can it. It'll look better painted, then it did before. My only prep would be to make sure you get all oils off it and go to town. Don't be afraid to just go for it.

Sat Jul 24, 2004 9:58 am

If you ever want to repaint it. Don't do it

Sat Jul 24, 2004 2:54 pm

why bother to do any prep at all if you're just going to rattle-can it?

Sun Jul 25, 2004 9:35 pm

I'm pretty experienced in rattle cans. The fact is that you would never make an area as big as the top of a bus look good with cans. They dry way too fast so there is no way to keep a decent wet edge as you paint. About the largest piece I've done with a can with good results is about 4' x 4'and you need to be in shade and moderate temps for that.