Post by riffraff on Sept 25, 2010 9:40:40 GMT -5
Background:
I had the rust repair done on my 15 window about 5 years ago.
The bus was driven on gravel roads most of it’s life, so it was more eroded than corroded, but it had roughly the same result for the underside.
I am not a bodyman, or much of a welder, so I farmed out the rust repair.
Metal working guy was under strict instructions that I wanted to save the original paint, so the metal work, filler, priming was to be as localized as possible so I could blend in the repairs with the original paint. The bus was to be done inside of four months.
I made (I think) three trips to check on progress as it was in another city, 300 km away.
Seven months later, I was getting annoyed at the perpetual delays and finally laid an ultimatum on them.
I would be picking up the bus next Saturday.
I guess they worked feverishly on it all week and had primed it the day before.
Contrary to my request, they had primed the bus fully half way up the lower colour.
Now, as I mentioned, I'm no bodyman, so I don't really know how far the filler would need to blend up from the rockers, or how far the primer would have to go, but I was monumentally disappointed that the priming effectively ruined any possibility of saving the original paint.
Oh well, I'm over it.
Fast forward to fall 2010.
The metal work and body work is holding up well, no sign of rusting or Bondo bubbling or anything like that, But I'm through driving a three toned bus.
I have since resurrected and sold the Mango (sniff) and generally puttered on my other buses in my free time.
The 15 window has again made it to the top of my list to improve this winter.
Today:
I will need to respray the entire lower colour of the bus. It really will make no material difference whether I attempt to blend or redo the entire colour, the original paint is lost. I reason that by painting the entire lower colour, I can get the entire lower half exactly the same colour.
I don’t want it to look new, I want it to look like the rest of the bus – Fifty years old and in pretty good shape for it’s age.
When the metalworkers primed it, the front doors and apron were off and the decklid was up. This means that the front doors, decklid, apron and rear hatch are still in original, beautiful paint. As the lower part of the bus was eroded, there is infinitesimal corrosion on the rest of the bus.
Dilemma:
Do I prep and paint the original doors, decklid, etc, or do I use my spare decklid, rear hatch and drivers door for the respray?
If I use the spares, I can save the original paint parts for future use, but then I have a pieced together bus.
If I use the original doors et al, I am forever destroying original paint parts, but the bus will retain it’s originality - pieces, organs if you will.
I’d be interested in the opinions from other bus junkies as to the pro's and cons of each approach..
I had the rust repair done on my 15 window about 5 years ago.
The bus was driven on gravel roads most of it’s life, so it was more eroded than corroded, but it had roughly the same result for the underside.
I am not a bodyman, or much of a welder, so I farmed out the rust repair.
Metal working guy was under strict instructions that I wanted to save the original paint, so the metal work, filler, priming was to be as localized as possible so I could blend in the repairs with the original paint. The bus was to be done inside of four months.
I made (I think) three trips to check on progress as it was in another city, 300 km away.
Seven months later, I was getting annoyed at the perpetual delays and finally laid an ultimatum on them.
I would be picking up the bus next Saturday.
I guess they worked feverishly on it all week and had primed it the day before.
Contrary to my request, they had primed the bus fully half way up the lower colour.
Now, as I mentioned, I'm no bodyman, so I don't really know how far the filler would need to blend up from the rockers, or how far the primer would have to go, but I was monumentally disappointed that the priming effectively ruined any possibility of saving the original paint.
Oh well, I'm over it.
Fast forward to fall 2010.
The metal work and body work is holding up well, no sign of rusting or Bondo bubbling or anything like that, But I'm through driving a three toned bus.
I have since resurrected and sold the Mango (sniff) and generally puttered on my other buses in my free time.
The 15 window has again made it to the top of my list to improve this winter.
Today:
I will need to respray the entire lower colour of the bus. It really will make no material difference whether I attempt to blend or redo the entire colour, the original paint is lost. I reason that by painting the entire lower colour, I can get the entire lower half exactly the same colour.
I don’t want it to look new, I want it to look like the rest of the bus – Fifty years old and in pretty good shape for it’s age.
When the metalworkers primed it, the front doors and apron were off and the decklid was up. This means that the front doors, decklid, apron and rear hatch are still in original, beautiful paint. As the lower part of the bus was eroded, there is infinitesimal corrosion on the rest of the bus.
Dilemma:
Do I prep and paint the original doors, decklid, etc, or do I use my spare decklid, rear hatch and drivers door for the respray?
If I use the spares, I can save the original paint parts for future use, but then I have a pieced together bus.
If I use the original doors et al, I am forever destroying original paint parts, but the bus will retain it’s originality - pieces, organs if you will.
I’d be interested in the opinions from other bus junkies as to the pro's and cons of each approach..
