New Paint!

 

 

Some like to have their coach a single color, and thats fine and dandy for them, but I like a bit more pizazz... As most of you know, I have never been happy with the "plain old white" that my coach has on it. The time has come for a change!

After much debate, and some toying around with Microsoft Paint, the general paint scheme has been decided upon. If you go to the Paint Schemes Page and look at number 15...Thats the winner. Not a overly complicated scheme, yet a very nice change.

Of course, The main color around the windows will be black. The bottom color is Atlantic Blue, which is extremely close to the blue that Chevrolet used on the Corvette. This color was chosen on how well it will blend with my blue interior. Atlantic Blue also Has metallic as well as pearl in it.

I can't wait!

The job will be done by myself, and my good friend, Shawn Cupps. We will do the work in the paint area at work. Shawn believes that the hardest part is going to be the masking off, especially the window area. That will be my department. Then one or both of use will "shoot" the GMC. The plan will be to mask and prep tomorrow and then paint in the evening, then leave it sit in the garage until Sunday evening.

Let's follow the job along...

 

8/09/2007

Got home from work today, and began my prep by removing the spare tire, and the ladder section of the roof rack. Tomorrow I will take it up to work and prep it the rest of the way. We have been having some seriously crappy weather, and painting outside is out of the question...At least I have a good boss who graciously allowed me the use of the garage, thanks John & Kurt! This is the last shot in the driveway in the "old colors"

 

8/10/2007

Slept in a little this morning...Not what was planned. Anyhow, I still managed to be at the garage by 930AM. I pulled the GMC in and helped Shawn move a few buses so Ray could regravel the parking lot. Here is the GMC in the garage...Goodbye white!

Time to start the masking...I must say, that IS the hardest and most time consuming part of the paint job.

And we didn't even START on the windows yet! Shawn thought it was best to start on the bottom and work our way to the top. He also figured that once the blue and the black are applied, that the "old" white is gonna look crappy to me...(man was he right...)

Here is Shawn shooting the blue...

Next, we have to continue masking...A couple friends dropped in. Mike Tobin help a lot with the masking. Mike went to Butler vo tech for auto body.

This is how she looks with all the masking done...

Both side panels needed a little body touch up, as you can see in the picture above and below.

 

Welcome to Shawns parts storage... Had to have someplace for the mirrors and wipers and such...

My boss, Kurt, has a really cool hobby, He does truck pulling. And he does quite well at it too I might add. This is his "toy hauler". He made this all himself. He dropped by last night to install this carburetor that was bigger than any carb I have ever seen, as well as quite a few spacers. A very impressive machine! He finished up about 11:00 PM and hey, I hadn't even shot the black yet! It was starting to be a LOOOONNNGGG Day!

Like I said, at this point, everyone else had gone home, and I shot the black coat... with some assistance from my friend Josh, who kept the air hose and ladder in check... Here are the pix of the black all done. I locked the garage up for the night at 230AM... Very long day, but well worth it! When its all done I will lay on the silver metallic pinstripes and then it will be all done!

The unveiling and cleanup will be Sunday the 11th of August! Look for it then!

I must say, doing it yourself sure saves the bux...We just did a paint job for a little less than $200.00! And that includes dinner! I plan on buying a roll of paper for the company to replace what I used, and that won't even cost much.

 

8/11/2007

The Unwrapping!

Before we could unwrap the coach we decided to scuff and reshoot the passenger side large panel between the windows.

After we did that, we sat around and shot the breeze for a bit, and then we decided to pulle the wrap! Man, I was like a kid on Christmas day! The motorhome will remain at the garage for another day, till the middle of the day tomorrow. We dont want any humidity on it just yet.

Here are the pix of it all done. I backed it out for a fast photo op...Then put is back... Cleaned my debris up off the garage floor as well. Before it comes home tomorrow, I will probably change the oil, change a few grounds and give it a grease job.

Without further adeu...Heres the new paint!

And back home with everything back on...

Now I have to do SOMETHING with those window frames and thos awful hubcaps...I smell Alcoas in the future!

 

There is something to be said for the pride in doing it yourself, and I saved a LOT of money in the process. All thats left to do is find a way to paint the window frames and put on a silver stripe to seperate the paint line. Then I will wait a month and and buff it all out. Should look even better then!

I want to make one point. I did this job myself with the help of some really good friends. If you can do the job yourself, then great. Most people dont have the facility nor do they have the experience. I got a good deal on good paint. Paint, however, can vary DRAMATICALLY in price. I have seen paint at $300 a PINT! If you want a top of the line paint job, then please be ready to pay the price. People who paint GMC coaches for a living are meticoulous, and remove just about every part of the coach, and they also do it for a LIVING, and they also have dedicated facilities where that all they do in that part of the facility. Remember, it's your coach. Do it the way you feel right in doing it. The way I chose is simply because I had the chance to do it.

Also, remember that I only added a couple color bands. This is far simpler than a whole repaint. A whole coach repaint involves WAY more prep work than we had to do on here, and will therefore be more expensive.