Painting Front & Rear Caps

Thanks, B.O.

Mine was painted when the colored gel coat faded. I went to a shop that paints trucks and buses. They used a Base Coat/Clear Coat system called Imron by DuPont. It's some pretty tough stuff. I did a bit of shopping first and found everyone wanted a lot of money to do it. Mine cost $1500.00. I think that was rather high but that's the best deal I found.

B.O.

I painted mine last year and I put a base on before clearing. Most clear coats are formulated to work with a specific base coat and you have a higher risk of clear coat peeling if the base is not used. If you do decide to go clear over gel coat, I would use a high quality brand name clear. For what white base coat cost, I would not risk it but that is just my opinion.

I have painted a lot of cars and the only clears I've had problems with have been budget clears, especially ppg omni line clears. SPI sells a good clear but I think it is too soft.

ScottG, any chance you could send info on the cost and a photo showing more of the front cap? Feel free to PM me if you would rather. It's something I can see having done in the next year or so my my 5er front cap.

I had mine painted a couple of years ago by a place that specializes in RV body work.
They used a tough two part epoxy paint.
It still shines great and seems to be less prone to rock chips. It never oxidizes and can take a good scrubbing (to get bugs off) without damage.

It would depend on the quality of the existing paint or clear coat. If it's chipped or has a powdery surface, you might be better off having it repainted. There have been a lot of advances in paints over the last ten years, but the EPA has cracked down on some of the best ones.

There are paints out there that are used on airplanes that can withstand huge changes in temperature and can protect a plane going 400 mph against chipping. The paint cost hundreds of dollars a gallon. There are other paints that are pretty cheap, but chip easily and don't do well in the sun. In the end it's going to come down to the people you hire to do the work and how much you're willing to spend. 50% of the job is in the prep work. If you don't properly prep the RV, even a good paint job will look bad and won't last.