Painting the Bluebird Blue

[bubblerboy64]

Having crawled out from under the bird (see thread about filters and such) I made another step forward today. I had a spot on the body which needed touched up but more then what a person was going to do with touch up paint. I didn't feel like taking it to the body shop and figured I really should learn how to do a little of type of repair as well. So I got my self a paint gun and I managed to do a reasonable repair all things considered. The color is off just a little bit but I suspect that is because of the age of the repaint (about 10 years). Its close enough. Has just a touch of orange peel but for my first go I am pretty happy with the results. I wouldn't tackle a valuable piece but for touching up the Napper I think I can handle the light stuff. I used a body glaze and filled in the chips and scatches and then wet sanded and painted the the thing. Not rocket science and not nearly as dirty a job as the underneath stuff. It's like anything else the more time and care you put into it the better the result. Kinda fun to do as well. So another credit toward the BBB degree

[lcondosta]

John. Finished my complete repaint of my 85 PT 40.It took me a little over a year to complete and I am a pro. I would not recommend this to anyone that has little experence because to do long lasting paint job it takes a lot of time and money(I own a auto paint store and have been painting for 40 years) Glad your job turned out well.Lee Condosta Automotive Refinish Products.B.A.S.F,Sikkens and SWilliams 85 PT 40 Holden Beach N.C

[bubblerboy64]

Lee, You have to consider that my coach is 35 years old and while in very nice condition for its age I am not going to hurt it by doing a little DIY paint work. There is only so much money to go around on these things and I may need more money for mechanical repairs so the bus will have to be happy with my DIY body and paint work.

I've had classic cars so I know a little about setting realistic goals for a project. I did good for a first time and most importantly I am happy with the results. It's not a show vehicle.

None of the work I have done on the bus is without imperfections. I know that many people could do a lot better job in all of this then what I have been able to accomplish. That being said my goals are realistic and I am enjoying the process. I am proud of it and I am learning. If a person expects perfection and is satisfied with nothing less then how would any one learn to do anything. I say go for it if, its just a chunk of metal and it can be sanded off if the next owner isn't happy.

I have a couple nice cars. I would try painting a fender on my Lexus but this ole BB, I didn't hurt it, and I bought the thing to do just what I am doing. Would I take on painting the entire bus? No. But if I was 20 years younger I might.

[gcyeaw]

John,
What kind of paint did you use? Was it based on the paint code or just an attempt to match the color?

[bubblerboy64]

Gardner, I used enamel and as to matching the paint it was a little bit of both. I had the paint codes which the previous owner used when he had the coach done years ago professionally. Problem is of course that the numbers get you close. I bought just a pint of paint and the store said if it wasn't quite right they would tint it for me. My bus is real dark blue and this repair needs just a touch more black to be dead on. I have to decide if it's off enough to bother with. I used enamel because I didn't want to clear coat. Like I said in the earlier post my goal is realistic and not perfection for this. Well, you saw the Napper at Maxton last year you know what I'm working with and towards. It's not bad though and I likely will do a little more as time permits.

[gcyeaw]

John,
Thanks. My new bird has a lot of little rust spots on the roof where the paint has worn thin. I put some new gold vinyl over the old stuff, but the brown stripe was in terrible shape. I had to clean it off and there was a lot of bare metal exposed. I temporarily used brown Rustoleum to make it passable and protect from further rusting. I would like to really do it right sometime in the future. Next time we are at a rally together I would like to talk paint.

[bubblerboy64]

I'd look forward to that. Maybe I'll know something about it by then . I know there are some issues with mixing paint bases so you might want to plan ahead as to what type of finish you would use so that you don't have problems with incompatible materials. Perhaps Lee or one of the other people who know about this stuff would give you (us) some pointers about how to go about this the right way. I was lucky more then anything. Remember I fill holes and sand down the fillings in my day job so I guess I have some experience doing that stuff. The paint? Hay, I went and got myself a sprayer and figured what could I loose. Set the compressor to the right setting poured the paint in and shot it. No runs no drips no errors. That's the some total of my knowledge. It's like my shooting hobby, luck is sometimes better then skill. I do believe if you are careful and get the surface nice its doable to a reasonable level. Not going to be up to professional standards of course but anything is better then looking at rust. Plus you have at least covered the metal and kept it from getting worse. At least that's my way of thinking about it.

[Randy Dupree]

John,sometimes the best paint comes from an amature.
i'm not a painter,but i have painted lots of stuff,if you guys had seen the stuff i painted you would agree,that i'm not a painter!

but like one of my friends once told me "i've never seen rust under a run!"
protect the body with paint,paint is easy to remove if you ever want to repaint it.
even rustoleom is better than rust!

[bubblerboy64]

Yep, agree completely. Nice thing is you can take it to what ever level your want to take it. I would think if a guy wanted to have a really nice job maybe he'd do some of the prep work and pass the finishing to the experts. I remember when I was a kid I had an old Chevy car that needed paint. I sanded on that thing for weeks and then took it to Earl Shieb and had them spray it for the grant total of $129.00 I believe. You know the darned car turned out pretty nice. I did find that the longer I worked on it the less particular I got so the left front fender was nearly perfect the right rear was just OK. The BB bus is a little bit like day de ja vu all over again. When I bought that car I remember asking if it had ever been in an accident. Of course the answer was no. I should have ask is there a panel on this car that hasn't been hit. Maybe it wasn't in an accident but it certainly was in a bunch of on purposes then.

[bloomas]

I have a 20 foot paint job on mine stand back 20 ft and you can not see a flaw.