Exterior Painting of Motorhome

[fmattox73]

This is going to generate a lively discussion I imagine.

My Class "A" motor home is looking pretty sad. As it's 24 years old, it's not bad, but the paint is faded, scuffed, scratched, etc.
I wondering if an individual could anticipate a reasonably descent looking job if they painted it themselves. What kind of paint would you be willing to use and how would you apply it.
Spray paint, Brush and Roller, etc.

What I'm looking for is a reasonably good looking paint job at the lowest practical price.

Has anyone ever painted a motor home with a good grade of Exterior Gloss House Paint?

Frank

[westend]

Well there's painters and well wishers then there are guys that know what they're doing, lol.

FWIW, I do some painting for my livelihood. I've painted a few vehicles both with body shop equipment and with an airless sprayer. There is no way I'd try rolling and brushing a vehicle. As with all painting, the preparation is most of the work and establishes the quality of the end result. Even using the best body shop gear and materials, the surface needs to be prepared right or results will not be good.

For the OP's job, some pictures or better description of the surfaces would get better advice how to proceed. my initial thoughts from reading reading between the lines is that a thorough buff and polish may meet his requirements but that precludes any damage that is significant.

Here is an easy process to renew a painted surface or gelcoated fiberglass surface: Wash with high surfactant soap, rinse. With a garden sprayer, spray the surface with a paint preprep solution. I like to use Jasco because it's cheap and I know what it does. While the prep solution is on the surface, rub down with lightly abrasive pads, a buffer, or something that very lightly scuffs down the surface (white 3M pads). Rinse with water or if preprep solution remains dryed on, more of the same, diluted, followed with water rinse. Now you will have a surface that is clean and all the oxidation removed. For some painted surfaces you can stop right there. For gelcoat or fiberglass, I like to use extra fine rubbing compound and buff out the surface. Rinse. The final stage is applying a durable wax and polishing that out for gloss finishes. Without the wax, the above is what I do for paint prep, also.

Here are some images of my travel trailer painted with an airless sprayer and using Sherwin Williams Industrial primer and house paint along with rattle cans for the accent colors. The paint job is now four years old and is like the day it was done. This was on a 40 year old surface.

Before:


After:
Primer applied:


Finished:






Good luck with the MH. I'd definitely try the clean up and deoxidation which you'll need to do before painting anyway. If results aren't there at that point, hire a guy with airless sprayer or spray your self. Masking, especially for accent colors, is a skill and results reflect that.

[fmattox73]

One of the replies suggested using Marine paint. The website claims that a brush and roller will do a fairly good job. As was stated in a previous post, I'm looking for Earl Sheib, not Michelangelo.

Frank

[Snowman9000]

Is it possible to buy and use automotive enamel paint these days? My dad painted three of my high school cars, back in the 70s. He did it outdoors on the driveway. None were perfect because he did get some sags, but they were pretty darn decent. He had a good sprayer and some experience.

The nice thing about the enamel was that it did not require any final sanding or buffing etc. In fact it took a while to fully cure.

[fmattox73]

Thanks for all the suggestions. It appears that the least expensive paint job would be Rustoleum with a sprayer after just good prep work. I'll take all of this into consideration and see what I want to do.

I came into possession of this thing through a fluke and I'm trying to figure out if it's worth keeping and throwing some money into or just donating it to some charity and taxing the tax deduction.

The previous owners seemed to take very good care of it, but again it's 24 years old. I have ALL the maintenance and repair manuals for just about every thing in it. And I'm mechanically inclined, but I'm 75 years old and wondering just how much to try to bite off with this project.

I'll let the forum know what I decide. Thanks

Frank

[RayJayco]

Just as a note, I saw mention of brush marks on a post and thought that I would mention that I have often used a product called "Penetrol" to help penetration/bonding, alleviate brush marks and increase shine when using oil based paints. Professional painters turned me on to this product many years ago. I am not suggesting brush painting an RV, although it does work fine on metal doors. YMMV

[RV_daytrader]

check these out...be creative!

https://goo.gl/images/gpT0cH

[Durb]

I used to own an egg style trailer and spent some time on fiberglassrv.com. One guy painted his Casita (I believe) himself and posted extensively about the process. I believe he used a marine paint with a roller. His post was specific as to brand and type of paint. The results in the pictures posted were beautiful. You may want to hop over there and do a search.

[Chris_Bryant]

I've seen an older motorhome (early 80's, aluminum "mesa" siding) painted by roller with Sherwin Williams A100- actually looked pretty good from 20 feet.

[pappyralph]

I painted my 1988 Coachman myself ( i have owned it since about 1991)I painted it several years ago. There are pictures posted on IRV2, under what did you do to your old motorhome today (i painted it).Auto paint and misc. supplies about $1000. The hardest part, getting it ready to paint.
Let me add , pictures are posted on IRV2, (post your vintage photos here) page 86. My before picture is on page 87.

[2012Coleman]

IMO, the advice to take it to Mexico or doing the vehicle wrap would be much better options then rolling house paint onto it.

Good luck - pictures when you are done!

[Pepperoni]

check out vehicle wraps. usually includes advertising, but pictures, murals or simple custom designs are common. even camo is available.

consider a custom stripe job.


I would like a couple 6 inch wide chrome stripes with a wide color change band between.

[MrWizard]

IDK what to tell the op
But that $800 gallon sounds like imron aircraft paint
Or maybe the military grade paint

[Chuck_thehammer]

have you asked a shop that reworks large trucks. not cars and pickups.

but paint is costly and Labor it even more. 60 percent of time is getting unit ready for painting... clean, strip, unbolt, mask. if damage.. fixing. even small stuff... scratches will show thru new paint.. so must be fixed.

forget house paint.. will not stick, will not shine. and even worse to remove.
rustoleum is not much better. OK for frames but not much else.

[DrewE]

TNGW1500SE wrote:
House paint isn't going to cut it. That would be a mess to scrape off later. A cheap paint job could be done with a roller and rustoleum or better yet, thinned and sprayed on. Any paint job looks better the farther you get away from it. How far back do you want to stand?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTO3q7Bpkbw

With good surface preparation (which is key in any case, and quite labor intensive unfortunately), and a little bit of care, you can indeed get a remarkably decent paint job with Rustoleum and a roller. That's probably the least expensive route to go.

I might be tempted to get the generic equivalent at Tractor Supply and use the catalyst they have, which makes for a harder finish (but also prevents storing leftover mixed paint/catalyst). It would presumably be a little more durable that way. It's also an accessible place to get several colors of enamel in gallons at not unreasonable prices. The colors are unsurprisingly mostly things like John Deere Green, so it's an added bonus if you are especially fond of some particular brand of agricultural equipment.

[donn0128]

Cost for decent automotive paint and supplies will probably set you back 500 dollars. On top of that, you will need to build a spray booth, get a respirator etc. Modern automotove paints can be extremely toxic, so spraying wihotut proper safety equipment is out of the question. How good will it look? Depends on how good of a painter you are, and how much prep work you put in.