I have painted sections of both of my last two coaches and the front of my current coach when I purchashed it.
My first coach was a 1984 30' Travelcraft. The side were painted aluminum down to the lower beltline. From there down including the compartment doors were fiberglass. The front and rear endcaps were of course fiberglass but gelcoated. I would polish out the endcaps and then after about six months they would die back again. I wanted them to match the sides which were very nicely done with automotive paint from the factory.
I also didn't particularly care for the color on the lower portion. I sanded the endcaps down with 220 on a DA sander. The gelcoat sanded very nicely but the stripes were painted on so I had to feather out those areas. I was able to match the colors of the stripes perfectly so I merely painted the endcaps then masked out the stripes to continue around just like the OEM had done them. I then clearcoated over the entire surface of the endcaps to bury the paint edges under the clear. I also splurged on the quality of paints, I used only PPG products and the clear that I used was a high solids urethane clear (DC2020).
The bottom section I sanded with the same 220 grit on a DA sander, then masked the beltline upwards with plastic sheeting. I applied an epoxy sealer, then two medium-wet coats of the color of choice (which was much nicer than the pinkish OEM color on the bottom). I then applied two-medium wet coats of clear followed by an over-reduced third coat which really helped flatten the clear out with almost no orange peel. This required very little buffing once everything dried. I did get a few bugs and trash in the clearcoat that required me to spot sand and polish those areas but at least I didn't have to sand/buff the entire thing.
It turned out awesome and we used the coach for six years before selling it and purchasing our 1991 Beaver Contessa. The people who bought it thought it looked like it had just rolled out of the factory.
On our 1991 Beaver I chased the peeling clearcoat almost the entire time we had it, eventually painting/clearing almost the entire thing.
On our 2003 Dynasty when we bought it the front 3M shield looked like crap. It took me the better part of a week to remove it. I completely removed the mirrors, wiper blades and the generator access cover which I painted seperately so I could get around the edges. I then sanded down the entire front end cap up to about the middle of the windshield on the sides of the "A" pillars. This would be the area where I blended the clearcoat due to being quite thin and less work blending.
I sanded the front end down with 180 grit on the DA to feather out and blend as many of the rock chips and damage from removing the 3M mask. I then applied a coat of high build urethane primer, again PPG product (K36). When dried I wet sanded it down with 400 grit wet sandpaper. I applied an epoxy sealer, then the colors which I was able to get the paint codes/mixtures from Monaco at the time. After the color I applied two-medium wet coats of clear followed by a third over-reduced coat to minimize orange peel, this little trick works fantastic. You just have to be careful to not lay this over-reduced coat on too heavy or it will run.
Upon completion again I had a few bugs I had to sand/buff out but other than that it turned out great. It still looks great now after 6 1/2 years other than a few rock chips. The front end cap is the best looking part on the coach. Unfortunately there are several other areas on the coach where the clearcoat is starting to peel. Also unfortunate is that I don't have a place to paint this coach, my last two I painted at my parents farm where I had no neighbors to piss off. I don't dare try to paint this thing in my driveway. I think I may be having to have the entire coach repainted within the next few years.
Mike.
2003 Monaco Dynasty/ 26' Haulmark Edge trailer
2011 Jeep Unlimited Rubicon
