Getting bus painted piece by piece ??

[happyhippo]

Here's a couple of paint questions for you pros:

I have my bus disassembled. I have decided on a color scheme and will pick a paint type soon. Once I do that, I plan to buy the paint and take possession of it. After that I want to scope out 3 different professional paint shops by giving each of them one door/hatch from my bus and having them paint it using the paints I've purchased. I will choose one shop to do the rest of my bus based on the quality/cost/service on the door I leave with them.

Question 1: If the quality on all 3 doors is similar, will I have to have all doors repainted by the shop I choose to get them to match on the finished bus since they will each be painted by different shops?

Question 2: If the doors are painted this year then stored inside out of the sun, will I have a color match problem if the bus isn't painted for another 12 months?

Question 3: If I buy my paint now but don't use it for 1-2 years will that cause a problem?

Question 4 (last one): When doing a 2 color paint job on my bus, should 1 gallon of each color be enough? and then one more gallon for the inside?

Thanks!
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-- Jeff--happyhippo

Look, I'll do whatever you want...Just get that death-weiner away from me! -- Principal Skinner

Never let a stripper clog dance near your dangle. -- Bob Oblong

[JoelH]

question #1: I wouldn't waste your paint and supplies just to find a good painter. Go in, check out their work that they've done on someone else's car. those people are paying for it, so see what they have done on that stuff instead of wasting your precious paint.

question #2: you shouldn't have a problem painting the doors this year, and setting them in out of the sun. I guess when it comes to painting, I just do it all at once anyways, so I've never really had to have stuff waiting around....but you should be ok.

question #3: keep the paint sealed if you aren't going to be using it. even if you open it up to check it out, MAKE SURE you have that cover on that can tight all the way around. any air leak, and it'll be hard when you plan on getting back to it.

question #4: Unless you're talking about a Greyhound, you'll be fine. Then again, I always put on 3 coats of color, 3-4 coats of clear....4th coat of clear depends on the quality of the 3rd coat. if you are doing a different color then one of your two tones from the outside for the interior, 1 gallon should be more then enough...and you'll probably have enough left over to come and paint the inside of my bug

hope this helps,
Joel
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[bmtx]

It might be better just to go the bodyshops in question and have a look around. Ask alot of questions and ask to see some finished cars. You can tell alot just by looking at the tech's working there. Are they profesional looking, they're space for the most part clean? Body shops are dirty but they should'nt be a total mess with parts scattered everywhere. If you go your route, it depends on what color you choose as to if it will match, depending on if it is a metallic or has pearl ect.. The color should'nt fade inside out of the sun but you should have them paint the whole car just to be safe. Paint will last for a while as long as you keep it shaken, if one of your colors is white, for some reason white will yellow after a year or so. Depending on what type paint you are using will determine how much you use. A base color that reduces 1 part paint to one part reducer will take two quarts each to make a gallon of sprayable color. If you decide on one shop and let them do it the material cost should be cheaper, as they get a better price. The thing about this and most things in life, you get what you pay for. Only pay once. Good luck.

[happyhippo]

Thanks for the good advice, folks. "My way" sounds a bit out there so I wanted to run it up the flagpole to see if anyone saluted. Sounds like I need to check out the shop in the traditional method rather than what I suggested.

Much appreciated!
_________________
-- Jeff--happyhippo

Look, I'll do whatever you want...Just get that death-weiner away from me! -- Principal Skinner

Never let a stripper clog dance near your dangle. -- Bob Oblong

[marklaken]

hey jeff,

on thing that could affect the match of colors is if the outside air temp and humidity are substantially different when the various pieces are painted...

also, there could be slight variation based on if you end up having different people/shops painting it

also, alot of shops have paint suppliers that they will want to buy paint from (they get a better deal, i assume, and they know 1 or 2 brands/systems best)...so you will want 1 body shop to do all your painting to avoid color variation or even different paint brands/systems...some shops may not even consider your business if you plan to buy paint elsewhere for them to use...you will want to clarify that with various shops...
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