Post 14: Painting the Bus

It took us 4 full days to paint the bus. We used a HVLP air spray gun from Harbor Freight. They're only $15 - I think a pretty good investment (especially if you already own an air compressor)!

1. Wash the bus with soap and water
2. Wipe the bus down with mineral spirits
3. Tape off anything you don't want painted
4. Spray the roof first - you want to paint from the top down
5. Do your entire first coat of paint
6. Wait for paint to dry
7. Do your second coat of paint

Painting Wheels

I used wire wheels to clean the rust off the wheels. I didn't spend too long on it and wasn't looking for perfection. I really just wanted to get off the loose rust. I cleaned them off with water and then  mineral spirits. First, I used a self etching spray primer for metal. Then I painted them shiny black with an automotive spray paint. They came out pretty great. This was an easy - can do in an afternoon kind of project. 

Taping off the bus

I had a whole team of people helping to get the bus taped off. My dad came and stayed the week to help. Craig's parents also joined in on the efforts. We started early in the morning. I set up a table with all the supplies we would need including tape, plastic, and scissors. Craig and his Dad set up a system for covering the windows. Our windows are two different sizes, so they marked a piece of wood with the two measurements. Then, they unrolled a sheet of plastic and cut a bunch of pieces to size. They laid out tape on the table, attached the plastic to it, and then brought it over to the window and taped the other 3 slides. They were super fast! Taping the whole bus took about 3 hours. 

We wanted to keep the bluebird and stripe. To tape over the bluebird we just laid blue tape over the entire bird and used a utility knife to cut out the shape of the bird. You could see through the tape pretty well. This was a really easy fast way to get all the curves of the bird cut in. 

Craig and Pete cutting plastic for the windows

My dad, David, covering the mirrors

Karen took care of all the detail work with the lights and curved windows

Painting

When we were finally ready to paint we realized we didn't have the right connector from the spray gun to the compressor. They sell them separately from the gun - so make sure you have this part. Luckily, Pete had a whole can of spare parts and after digging around for a good 20 minutes, we found 2 parts that fit together. 

Digging

Type of Paint

We have an automotive paint shop right here in Ithaca. Kevin, the owner, was super helpful throughout this whole process. He recommended we use Commercial Performance Coatings AUE-100 - Custom Tinted Acrylic Urethane Enamel Paint. We had to mix in a paint thinner and a paint hardener in a 7-1-1 ratio. We used a little less than 2 gallons of paint for two coats. It was about $70 for a gallon of paint, plus $30 each for the hardener and thinner. In total, we spent about $250 on paint. I'm really happy with how it came out. 

Why white? Well - it's actually "custard." There were a few reasons for choosing a light color. First of all, a darker color will show many more imperfections than a light color. I also decided I didn't want to always attract attention with a crazy colored bus. I figure if I want to add color, I can add a stripe or stick on vinyl decals in the future. I also think if we ever want to sell the bus, white is a pretty safe color. 

We started with the roof and worked our way down the bus. It was really helpful to have somebody on the ground holding up the weight of the hose to the paint gun.

Unveiling

After 4 full days of taping and painting, we finally got to unveil our new white dream bus!