Removing bad paint

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satchmo
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Removing bad paint

Post by satchmo » Wed Aug 01, 2012 5:33 pm

A PO of my bus, for reasons that still elude me, decided to paint several panels of my low mileage, original paint bus - with the wrong color. And I think he/she did it with a rattle can too.

Here is what it looked like when I got it:

Image

I couldn't stand looking at that any more, but I didn't want to take it in for a complete repaint or anything either. So, not really knowing what lay beneath, I sanded the mismatched paint off.

I began with 1500 grit, but it was slow going. So I went down to 1200 grit. To my surprise, there were no areas with filler or primer below the bad paint. Just nice original color. It was a little thin in places, so I took it slow. And I took the opportunity to pound out some of the dent in the door.

One panel done:

Image

Both panels done:

Image

Door dent pounded out a bit:

Image

After the 1200 grit, I did 1500 grit, then 2000 grit. Then I used some rubbing/polishing compound on a drill mounted buffer pad followed by a few coats of wax.

It is nice to have my bus all one color.

Tim
By three methods we may learn wisdom:
First, by reflection, which is noblest;
second, by immitation, which is easiest;
and third, by experience, which is bitterest. -Confucius

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ruckman101
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Re: Removing bad paint

Post by ruckman101 » Wed Aug 01, 2012 6:02 pm

That is bizarre. But nice work. World of difference to the good.


neal
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dtrumbo
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Re: Removing bad paint

Post by dtrumbo » Wed Aug 01, 2012 7:50 pm

ruckman101 wrote:That is bizarre. But nice work. World of difference to the good.


neal
X2! Glad to see you're back in a bus (I'm sure Ken Madson is too!).
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1970 Transporter. 2015cc, dual Weber IDF 40's
1978 Riviera Camper. Bone stock GE 2.0L F.I.
1979 Super Beetle convertible.

... as it turns out, it was the coil!

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Elwood
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Re: Removing bad paint

Post by Elwood » Wed Aug 01, 2012 7:58 pm

Looks great Tim. Maybe Elwoods door damage is doable???

Glad your still with us!!!

Barb/Elwood
up in Idyllwild , good day run from you.

But I do have a dirt driveway :flower: :flower:
'69 weekender ~ Elwood

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Amskeptic
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Re: Removing bad paint

Post by Amskeptic » Wed Aug 01, 2012 10:31 pm

Good work, Tim! I'll take thin original over repainted any day.
Colin
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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satchmo
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Re: Removing bad paint

Post by satchmo » Wed Aug 01, 2012 11:12 pm

Amskeptic wrote:Good work, Tim! I'll take thin original over repainted any day.
Colin
Agree. But one issue encountered with this method is that you lose the very slight orange peel texture that the original paint job had. The panels I sanded are just flat and shiny. It is hard to get a photo of this difference, but you can see and feel it pretty easily in person.

Again, even without the orange peel, this is way better than the mismatched, rattle can spray that was there before.
Elwood wrote:Looks great Tim. Maybe Elwoods door damage is doable???

Glad your still with us!!!

Barb/Elwood
up in Idyllwild , good day run from you.

But I do have a dirt driveway :flower: :flower:
I don't know Barb. Maybe it is. Shoot me a picture. I'm just 'down the hill,' plus I have an aunt in Hemet.

Tim
By three methods we may learn wisdom:
First, by reflection, which is noblest;
second, by immitation, which is easiest;
and third, by experience, which is bitterest. -Confucius

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bretski
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Re: Removing bad paint

Post by bretski » Thu Aug 02, 2012 6:01 am

Very nice job. I have a somewhat similar situation, but the PO had the entire bus painted (except for the driver's rear panel). It's been an annoyance for 18 years. Must be a Dakota Beige thing...

Some day, when I have more time than sense, I might start sanding.
1978 Deluxe Westfalia - "Klaus"

"transcripts are overrated. hardware store receipts: those are useful." --skin daddio

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sped372
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Re: Removing bad paint

Post by sped372 » Thu Aug 02, 2012 6:10 am

Nice work!
1971 Karmann Ghia - 1600 DP
1984 Westfalia - 1.9 WBX

Marya70Riviera
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Re: Removing bad paint

Post by Marya70Riviera » Thu Feb 05, 2015 12:30 am

The mystery was getting to me and I was wondering if maybe the bus had graffiti? Would you have found the naughty writing (if it was naughty writing) when sanding or would that have just come off without your realizing it, along with the rest of the bad paint? Cause I could see someone temporarily painting over something particularly foul (or trying to clean it off and making it uglier if not doing it properly) and then not ever getting around to doing it properly? Curious!

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wcfvw69
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Re: Removing bad paint

Post by wcfvw69 » Thu Feb 05, 2015 2:26 pm

Looks much better! Nice job
1970 Westfalia bus. Stock 1776 dual port type 1 engine. Restored German Solex 34-3. Restored 205Q distributor, restored to factory appearance engine.

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Re: Removing bad paint

Post by 69doublecab » Wed May 27, 2015 1:32 am

Amskeptic wrote:Good work, Tim! I'll take thin original over repainted any day.
Colin
I had a similar situation with an 83 Vanagon I bought. It was that nice two tone brown. the reddish one, Assuan Braun, Sahara Biege.. Someone had rattled canned the whole lower color flat black. I experimented and was able to remove every bit of it with Gumout Carb cleaner, plastic razor blades and paper towels. The expensive blue ones are perhaps less likely to cause scratches, but not what I used. I have no idea how much time I had in it, but perhaps 30 hours of work. And the original paint is near perfect except for about 3 damaged sots. I haven't even waxed it yet and it is just beautiful.
Original is only that way once.
Al Brase

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Amskeptic
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Re: Removing bad paint

Post by Amskeptic » Sat May 30, 2015 1:57 pm

69doublecab wrote:razor blades what I used.
Original is only that way once.
Al Brase
I should have thought of that, seeing as I am a champion of razor blades. The plastic double edged allowed you to skive the old paint off?

I used my fingernails over several weeks to scratch off the greeny green respray on the BobD's nose. If a double-edged Gillette would have done it, heck.
Colin
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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