Best way to paint a slightly rusted bus

[75bus75]

[busdaddy]

[Clatter]

Buffing usually means using a 'compound' that is like a wax with mild abrasive.

It will remove the old, hazy layer of oxidized paint off the top,
Exposing paint underneath with fresh color.

it will also clean off rust streaks, greasy handprints, etc.
A good buffer will 'melt' or 'smear' adjacent paint over scratches and pits.

I once saw a guy fix his car that had been 'keyed' by vandals clear thru the paint,
using only a buffer.
You could NOT tell it happened.

A pro will use only a rough enough compound to clean up the paint,
then work up through the grits to get the shine right.
The wax will seal any places where the paint is compromised.

That your bus is white is especially tasty.
Most polishes are white, so you won't even have to use special color-matched materials.
Not to mention that white is the easiest color and hides everything...


Glad to hear you have seen the light.
You need to be searching auto body places, paint stores, detail shops and the like.

If that were mine,
I'd get all the window/door rubber out of the way,
Mask it carefully from the inside,
Spot-blast any rusty window frames or door seal areas, front steps, floor, etc.
Then, either brush (if hidden) or spray, some epoxy, followed by real color-correct auto paint.

Then,
After drying,
Have that nutty buffer guy tweak out and do his thing..

The right guy could make your bus look better than new. Seriously.

OG VW paint is usually far nicer than many of the paint jobs you would pay thousands and thousands for..

Gotta find the right guy.

The guy I knew was in Mountain View,
But,
The tweak did him in eventually.

There's another like him out there.
You won't believe what he can do.


Glad to hear you are heeding advice.
Many here do not.

You will get a far better result this way.
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Bus Motor Build

What’s That Noise?!?

[TDCTDI]

You know... You could clean it up as well as possible, wax it then have it shot with Plastidip in the color of your choice. You'll get a layer of a rubberized protectant for the original paint that you can peel off & recoat with another color.

https://www.dipyourcar.com/?gclid=CjwKCAjwo4jOBRBm...48QAvD_BwE
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Everybody born before 1975 has a story, good, bad, or indifferent, about a VW.


GOFUNDYOURSELF, quit asking everyone to do it for you!


An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.


Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it.

[busdaddy]

Plastidip is spendy, fades quickly and doesn't peel all that well after some time in the sun, think carefully about going that route.

Clatter nailed it, that's what I did with my 71 as well as the 72 camper, a little spot blaster action on the rust followed by sealer and automotive paint fixed all the window lips and rusty sctratches, some of the drip rail edges I sanded slightly and dabbed on sealer and paint along the edges with a fine brush. I don't have any "before" pics because they are on film and I have no idea where they got stashed, but it wan't all that prettier than that white bus, here's an "after"

Yeah it's still got some door dings and scratches from 46 years of a life well lived, but it's all 1 color and shiny and unless I told you where I patched the paint you'll have a hard time spotting it. At least 75bus doen't have to match Niagara blue, Pastel white comes in spray cans from WW already (afaik), all those dots on the nose can be touched up using a sheet of paper with a hole in it as a mask.
Get yourself one of these to put on a HF siphon blaster and there's almost no mess: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hot-Spot-Blast-Recovery-Bag-For-Speed-Blaster-System-HS2020-/261310489432
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Rust NEVER sleeps and stock never goes out of style.

Please don't PM technical questions, ask your problem in public so everyone can play along. If you think it's too stupid post it here
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[rusty busty]

Agreed. Polish that sucker up. It takes time but the results are so worth it.

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1978 CEII Get-away hightop

[Bulli Klinik]

I don't use POR. I have in the past and just don't like the results. As far as the Rustoleum, I try not to shoot anything on a project that is not a catalyzed product. I prefer to professional grade products which won't pose a problem down the line when the Bus is really getting restored.

Any sort of phosphoric acid based preps will work. The key is to scrub, scrub, scrub with a wire brush until all of the discoloration is gone from the metal. It's not easy work. Once you use the acid (follow the instructions, they paid someone to come up with that stuff) let it completely dry and prime it with a quality epoxy primer. I use Shopline brand which is made by PPG. It's affordable at about $120 or so a gallon. You can brush or spray it on. If you'd like to topcoat it, have the paint shop mix you up a quart of whatever color you prefer. If you have small pits that aren't rusting through, brush the primer on until the pits are filled then sand smooth. You will have epoxy bonding to the metal instead of talcum powder loaded filler which only absorbs water if exposed.

Put the windows back in and spend that paint money on a nice trip in your Bus. If you want to try your hand at restoring something, get a Vespa. It's a manageable project and a nice companion to a Camper.

My project and my driver:

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I've never met a Bus I didn't like.
Mike K
Bulli Klinik
Colorado Springs

[wcfvw69]

[avoll]

I just painted my 78, 1 gallon inside, 1 gallon top, 1 gallon bottom, 4 gallons clear, 2 gallons epoxy primer, 4 gallons primer, activator that goes with all that. Wet blasting down to bare metal. Completely stripping parts time, countless hours of bodywork and sanding/wetsanding. There is so much surface area compared to a regular car.
I did all the work myself and friend and got my paint half priced becuse my friend has dealer account, and supplys were still roughly $3000. Except the wet blasting was a $700 bargain or would have been tons more sanding.

So basically I did everything as cheap as possible without skipping steps. Just to give you an idea of what your getting into. Also keep in mind replacing all the rubber seals is gonna run you about $500.

After all that I still need to sand out a couple runs and color sand.
Single stage is cheaper but 2 stage is much easier to fix mistakes.
Hope that info helps, I'm glad mines done but i wish I woulda realized better what I was getting into before I did it.

[orwell84]

I wish I had known what I know now when I got my bus in 1990. For awhile, I did more harm than good in learning bodywork. Baywindow buses were not that special in 1990. I have had my bus long enough to end up learning from my mistakes and fixing most of them. My mantra now when getting into bodywork that I don't understand is "Do no harm". I repeat this to myself when I learn more and think I know something that I really don't.

Some of the heroic measures people go through to uncover and preserve OG paint are really not for me. But in your case I think you are on the right track, since the paint and bodywork are in such good shape. You may not get every little ding and dent out, but done right it will look smashing. I think an honest bus that shows wear, but is well cared for is miles ahead in look and value than some of the shiny buses that impress a lot of people. For the people who know and work on buses the bodywork details that are overlooked or worked around just jump right out.

You might consider finding a shop that understands your plan and what you are trying to do if it is beyond your skills, no insult intended. I'm sure they exist.

[TomWesty]

[Abscate]

[75bus75]

It's been slow starting this up - but wanted to post an update on the progress. thanks for all the advice to date..

1> I am using the front bumper to learn on as it has all representative areas that I will have to deal with when I touch the panels on the bus. The bumper
A> has spot rust, ( pin spots some on surface some going through to metal) - no through rust.
B> scratched areas with metal exposure no rust ( pitted),
C> good OG pain coverage. ( Found 2 types of OG - paint that is hard and paint that is chalky and rubs off to bare metal)

Followed the following steps
1> Cleaned water and scrubbed with a soft bristle brush
2> Used 1200 grit sandpaper on areas with heavy scratches
3> Cleaned with dish soap, and then CLR
4> Buffed and polished at lowest speed with Maguire 205 and 105 ( set the buffer to 1 )

Results: Reflective shine in some areas
a1> The pin rust ( Scattered dots of rust size of pin heads) - most of them blended away. a few larger one or areas with a lot of closely positioned pin head rust still shows through.

b1 >Scratched area with exposed metal / some rusted some shows up clean - Applied Por 15 Clear, sanded por -15 area after curing with 300 grit sandpaper, ( This filled/leveled up the scratched area ), applied 2 light coats of paint, then buffed.

c> OG paint exposed 2 issues.
c1> some of the paint is chalky - in that rubbing it even a piece of cloth removes the paint and exposes the metal below. Using the buffer on this left a patchy finish with some paint being stripped off and some paint nicely polished. I suspect I will run into this on the panels. Any thoughts on how to deal with this?

c2> Good OG paint - not chalky got a great reflective finish.


-
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1975 VW Westfalia

[ivwshane]

12k for a paint job?!!!! Holy sh#t!

I'm looking to repaint my bus back to original paint that the PO covered up but I didn't think it would cost that much. Damn!

What exactly would that 12k get you? Does that even include any body work?

This thread totally killed any positive vibes I had for the new year.
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77 westy 2.0 FI
69 ghia coup 1600dp
70 single cab

[TomWesty]

[75bus75]

12 k is just paint - fortunately for me the bus had surface rust ...

A macco type job would be 3k here...
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1975 VW Westfalia

[75bus75]

Follow up to the previous post - did a good clean with water and soft bristle brush on the sliding door - it does not have rust spots .

After drying it and rubbing with a soft cloth - parts of the metal ( grey/black) streaks are showing up. Suggestion on next steps here ( pic attached)

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1975 VW Westfalia

[wcfvw69]

[guitarman63mm]

Any of the 'rust killer' type things are a very short term solution - I have watched it come back time and time again. There are two ways to truly kill rust - removing the material, or electrolysis.

OP - are you using an electric polisher or doing it by hand? It's often very easy to burn through when you're using a power tool.

As far as repairing that damage - I think you should just put carnuba wax on it for now to seal it. As for the rest of the car - did you buy a cheapie sodablaster as was advised earlier? Your best bet will be that + a small airbrush with some single-stage that's matched to your paint code.
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Jimmy

- 1974 Safaré Custom Camper. 091 trans + Dual Weber 34 ICTs + Pertronix SVDA + 1.7L 914 T4 engine.

[75bus75]

Not using an electric polisher /buffer on the sliding door..

The pictures in the previous post were after after a hand scrub with a soft bristle brush folled by drying with microfiber towel. So the paint is coming off after a hand rub.


With the paint coming off and no rust on this panel - any recommendations on next steps?
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1975 VW Westfalia