Jim's coach has sat patiently in his side
yard in Va. for 8 years waiting for this day. Motor shot, interior
rotten to beat the band and the paint-- well you know what I mean! But
the thing is, its all still hear. It's been waiting for its time and
that is now here. The "Extreme Makeover" shows have nothing on us,
Jim's coach will get a custom extreme makeover and you can be here to watch.
Step one is always to break down the
exterior, all acc. come off-- bumpers, vents, molding, trim... the works.
This is not a "cave & pave" job, it's more "soup to nuts".
Even though JIm wants to keep the original stripe scheme, those original
stripes were there by decals so guess what, they all have to go. The
new stripe scheme will be painted on and under the clear. Great care
needs to be taken not to create problems removing the harder than paint dead
decals. Next DA (dual action) sanding is done to pull off the dead
paint and years of dirt & grime.
No, thats not Mumps, thats how many stone chips that were found on the front
of the coach-- they all must be filled.
Oops, can't paint over this stuff-- the rust has to be killed, the pits
filled and the surfaces prepped to hold the new paint-- it's the right thing
to do.
Getting near primer, we need to pic
colors. The base color will be the original light tan but we want to
do something special for the stripe color. Jim sent us colors of the
interior (deep maroons) and the direction is to match it with a bright
metallic color
No trouble, we can do that and here is the selection
The body work is done and the coach is in primer ready
to block and then lay on color.
The quality job is in the prep work--- right here. Things like
cleaning out the old foam sealer around the utility door BEFORE painting
and filling in bug pits and chips on the front. The black wisps help
indicate low spots as we block sand
.
We still have doors & acc. pieces but the big push is to get the coach in
color.
Next, a sealer coach is sprayed on giving
the coach surface an even color to accept the base.
.
The smallest showing color goes on first, here the metallic red stripes are
based on then lined out with tape & bagged off.
This coach is a more basic 2 color original design but it still gets the
same treatment as if it were multi color. The stripes are masked off
before the main solid color tan base is layed on.
Then the stripe bag will come off, the
coach will be "Taced" off and the clear coach will go over the entire body.
Ever wonder how paint lines are hardly noticeable, this is how you do it.
The clear coat will let cure (@ 30 days or so) then Kevin will wet sand the
finish with 2000 grit wet/dry paper then do 2 grits of final buffing to
bring up the shine. It could be done faster--- but not better.
Hey Jim S., your coach is in clear:
An original paint scheme with a high metallic stripe color
twist. Tomorrow I may be able to get a wider view shot. Looking good
man. Of course these pics are before the wet sand& buffing.
Even door jams and under door surfaces are based and cleared-- I think it stinks
when you open a door and find the nasty old paint under the doors--- don't you?
The paper is off and we're now
reassembling the coach
The acc. are cleared
so now its reassembly time-- top rails sealed & installed, vents, roof AC
you know, all that stuff. The coach can't come out of its cocoon until
its sealed up. These pics are of course before the wet sand & buff out
so you may see some orange peal-- that will go away soon, there is 3 thick
coats of clear, plenty to wet sand out smooth.
We're clear from the paint dock and back
out in open water.
That means we have it back for exterior assembly, clean up and to go after
the interior renovations.
First job is to wash the coach getting off compound residue, "nubs" and just
dust from being in the paint shop.
the paint needs time to cure before the final buff-- this will happen while
we work on the interior.
This is where we are to date on this project
Come back later for more
