![\"IMG_4342\"](\"http:\/\/minniebiz.com\/gmcmotorhome\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/IMG_4342.jpg\")
<\/a>We have had our Classic GMC Motorhome for almost 8 years and for all of that time a paint job was very high on our list of desired improvements. We tried buffing the original Imron paint but there had been repairs that were not Imron. The stripes were painted on top of the Imron and were well worn in addition to being very 1970s \u2013 the orange stripe was the biggest clue for dating it.<\/p>\nWhen I went out looking for a shop that would do the job (more on that below) I was told that changing the design from the original would cost quite a bit more because of all of the sanding required to hide the old stripes. Rethinking the design, we came up with the possibility of repainting the same design with new colors. At that point I contacted Byron Songer, the design and graphic arts guru. Before Byron did anything, however, we changed our minds (I decided to do the paint job myself \u2013 more below again) and went back to our original plan.<\/p>\n When I finally went to the paint supplier I found out about a complicating factor that might have forced us to abandon any Byron Songer solution anyway: automotive paint colors are \u201ca crap shoot\u201d. It turns out that available automotive paint colors, for the most part, are determined by automotive manufacturers. The color choosing process is to look at thick books of paint colors with small (about 1\u201d square) swatches of available paint colors in no obvious order \u2013 they seem to be in order by manufacturer and model year. There are no meaningful color names, only numbers, and no available range of a color as there is in home d\u00e9cor type paint store. This would make painting the original colors easy but not great for design.<\/p>\n My original plan was to find someone to do the paint job for me but I ended up doing it myself. I had toyed with the idea of painting the coach myself because it was interesting \u2013 I love learning how to do things. Also, I knew two people who had done it themselves in their driveways and both coaches looked fine \u2013 no evidence that they were done by amateurs.<\/p>\n Trying to find someone, I researched and thought about the tried and true Jim Bounds Coop in Orlando, FL and Topeka Graphics in Indiana. I knew (Steve Ferguson and Jim Decheine) that Jim Bounds did great (the best) work but I had heard that the price was quite high – $10K – $12K plus the trip to Florida (leaving it there would require two trips adding quite a bit to the already high cost). I thought of Topeka Graphics because they had done several GMCs for others and the quality was good and the price seemed right at the time \u2013 about $5K. When I called them about a year ahead of time they had stopped painting coaches and gone back to their prime work of doing graphics on big RVs.<\/p>\n Now I started searching around the Tucson and Phoenix areas. I called shops which seemed to be likely to be able to do the job but was unable to find anyone who would do it. I asked people who had coaches painted and only two shops were identified. One of the people who stores their non-GMC RV where I do had theirs done at a shop in Tucson. When I visited the shop and showed them the coach they were very negative and, although cheap, were going to do a bare-minimum job if they did it at all. Also, they did not have a facility so would have to do it outside.<\/p>\n I ran into the owner of a very large diesel pusher at a Jetset rally who had just had his coach painted at a place in Tucson that does RVs for one of the local dealers. He had paid only about $8,000 and it was huge so I went to see them. They had the facilities and the knowledge but, if I did much of the grunt work (removing and reinstalling all of the lights, etc.) and gave them the coach for at least 2 months, they would (no body work since I had already done most of it) paint the coach for only $9,000. That is when I realized that Jim Bounds\u2019 price was pretty fair and also when I decided to do it myself. I figured that if I could finish with a \u201c10-foot\u201d paint job I would be happy and would equal some of the paint jobs I have seen done in \u201cMexico\u201d or elsewhere (cheap). A \u201c10-foot\u201d paint job means: from 10 feet away it looks great.<\/p>\n Doing the paint job myself seemed like an exciting and rewarding project. I had sprayed paint before when I made cabinets and furniture and I knew others (Steve A., Karen B., and Sully) who had painted their own coaches themselves at home, in the driveway. If they could, so could I.<\/p>\n It turned out that there are hundreds of free videos on youtube.com that teach everything you need to know about body work and painting. I watched many hours of video trying to learn what I needed to do the job.<\/p>\n Youtube:<\/p>\n Turbine system Benefits:<\/p>\n 1) Complete Portability typically 20 lbs.<\/p>\n 2) Built in filter system<\/p>\n 3) All Self contained<\/p>\n 4) Fast operation with heated material (I needed something to slow it down)<\/p>\n 4) Excellent finish quality<\/p>\n 5) Very Low Overspray – Great for indoor applications<\/p>\n 6) No moisture to worry about<\/p>\n Other electric or air tools required: 4 \u00bd\u201d angle grinder\/sander for body work, a 5\u201d random orbit sander, and a 1\/4-sheet finishing sander from Makita (easy to use and very aggressive).<\/p>\n The turbine-based HVLP spray system turned out to be a life-saver again. The first section I painted was below the waist on the side nearest the cars and there was almost no overspray. I had planned to turn the coach around so that I was painting on the car side again \u2013 Ed \u201cdidn\u2019t care\u201d about the cars\u2019 paint jobs \u2013 but I decided that there was no risk just leaving it right where it was. The only time I did move the coach was when I painted the roof. I worried about paint going over the top and onto the Motorhome on the other side so I moved out into an open parking lot in the storage facility.<\/p>\n Other than some dust and a few bugs in the finished paint job painting the coach out in the weather on a gravel lot in the Arizona Summer sun worked out OK. I did all of the painting as early as there was light enough to start \u2013 usually 5:00 to 5:30 a.m.<\/p>\n There are basically two ways to paint a vehicle: \u201cbag and shoot\u201d or \u201cthe right way\u201d. Jim Bounds and the GMC Coop in Orlando, FL is the \u201cgold standard\u201d for painting the GMC. \u201cBag and shoot\u201d is what Jim calls the typical cheap paint job. Everything that can be masked is masked, little or nothing that is not to be painted is removed. The right way to paint a vehicle is to remove everything that can be removed so that nothing gets painted that shouldn\u2019t be and so that the surrounding areas can be properly cleaned and prepped. Another benefit is that when the item is removed and replaced there is no problem with a change in shape and old paint showing as a result.<\/p>\n One of the biggest questions that I had and I see others discussing on the web was whether or not to remove the drip rails (the rain gutters that cover the seams between the roof and the sides). I asked Jim about this and he told me that they always do and that, although it is a big job, it was the \u201ccorrect\u201d thing to do \u2013 I removed mine and I am glad I did. One rail, on the passenger side, came off with no problems \u2013 probably because someone had been their before me some years earlier. The driver\u2019s side was a different story. About every other screw broke off in the structural rib. Jim had predicted this and said just move it forward about \u00bc\u201d and drill all new holes when reinstalling.<\/p>\n<\/a>We made many improvements: mechanical, convenience and cosmetic. In 2010 we remodeled the entire interior \u2013 all new cabinets and window coverings but we never got around to the paint job. In 2014, the paint job finally made its way to the top of the \u201cdesired improvements\u201d list so it was time to do something about it.<\/p>\n<\/a>Over the eight years and multiple rallies at both GMC Motorhomes International and GMC Western States, along with lots of photos from rallies we could not attend we developed an idea of what we wanted for a paint design. The dream paint-job was based on a design that I saw on Jim Bounds\u2019 web site \u2013 he calls the coach Blueocity. Blueocity\u2019s base color is a bluish gray with black around the windows. Our dream job had a base color of beige (no specific shade but) close or similar to the original base color to keep it light and compatible with our interior colors.<\/p>\nHire someone or do it myself?:<\/h2>\n
What was required to do it myself?<\/h2>\n
Skill requirements:<\/h3>\n
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Tool requirements:<\/h3>\n
The biggest hitch seemed to be an air compressor to run the spray gun and the sanders. I had a small air compressor but everything I read talked about how you need a lot of air and the only way to get the amount they suggested was to use a huge 220-volt air compressor that would cost at least $500 but more like $1000 or more. Well, the truth turns out to be that the reason body shops use spray guns that require lots of air is that they have lots of air. Body shops have air tools like sanders, chisels, hammers, etc. that have always taken lots of air. HVLP spray guns \u2013 the state of the art tools \u2013 do not require pressure, just lots of volume. HVLP guns, as originally developed, are driven by turbines that move lots of air at low pressures \u2013 like the exhaust side of a vacuum cleaner.<\/p>\nWhere to work?<\/h3>\n
<\/a>I am not allowed to park the GMC at my house so either renting a space somewhere, indoors or out, or doing it right where it was stored were my only options. There were no opportunities I could find for renting space indoors so I decided, with the approval of the storage lot owner, to paint the coach right where it was parked. There were two fairly trashed cars on one side that belonged to Ed, the storage lot owner and a white class C Motorhome on the other. There was less than 8 feet between each of the spaces so overspray was a big concern for me.<\/p>\n<\/a>Speaking of painting the roof: how to reach it was the biggest problem I had with the work area. I don\u2019t know how real shops paint the roofs of GMCs. I think I remember even Jim Bounds saying that they send coaches out somewhere to have the roofs painted. I did see a situation where someone painted theirs in a barn where they could walk on platforms or planks suspended above the vehicle. I ended up using an 8-foot stepladder leaning on the side of the coach and had to move it 3 or 4 feet at a time but reaching the front was a real problem that I might do differently next time \u2013 if I could think of anything that I couldn\u2019t this time.<\/p>\nPainting the coach<\/h2>\n
Preparation:<\/h3>\n
<\/a>I took the path of removing everything. The only things that I did not remove are the vent fans on the roof but I did remove the caulking and clean the areas around them. The air conditioners \u2013 two of them \u2013 were too heavy for me to completely remove so I built 14-inch by 14-inch frames out of 2x4s on their edges. The frames move the base of the A\/C unit 3 \u00bd inches above the roof \u2013 enough to get paint underneath and do the job.<\/p>\n<\/a>The replacement of the driver\u2019s side rail required me to grind the old broken screws down flush with the aluminum. I used a 4 \u00bd\u201d grinder with a metal cutting wheel on it to reach into the groove where the screws go in. I bought some self-tapping screws from McMaster-Carr and used a slightly oversized drill bit (11\/64) for drilling the new holes and I had no problems getting the new screws in and tight.<\/a><\/p>\n