I once bought a ‘78 Westfalia from one of those = used car dealers in Southern California that operate out of an industrial un= it and advertise in Auto Trader. It had a brand new Earl paint job complete = with a stripe kit. It had some orange peel but looked OK for a $ 1500 bus. F= our years later it had as much surface rust as paint visible. And I lived in= Southern California! I don’t think I would take any vehicle, that I c= ared about it’s long term welfare, to a cheap auto painter. I loved th= at van though.

I have painted a few cars, motorcycle’s, jet skis, bicycles and indus= trial design models in my time. After the last car I painted, and changed th= e color on, I vowed never to do it again. In my experience it is a lot of wo= rk and very time consuming. A few bits if wisdom: Preparation and cleanlines= s are key to success. Use only the best materials. Painting is a skill that = is difficult to master, so practice before you paint your beloved Vehicle. Y= ou must have a clean, well lit and ventilated place to spray in. Don’t= do it in your driveway. Rust removal is difficult to do properly, in my opi= nion, better left to the experts if you can afford it.

I have an ‘86 Synchro Westfalia. When it receives its new coat of pai= nt next year it will be at a reputable (probably expensive) body shop. It= 217;s true in auto body work that  “you get what you pay for̶= 1;.

Regards,

Jon




Joe,
I'm not body-shop expert.  I don't even pretend to play= one on TV.  But good Lord, man, if you're going to sink as much time a= nd effort into prepping your Westy for Maaco or Earl, why not go the extra f= ew feet and complete the job yourself?  You're going to need about thre= e-quarters of the tools anyway...

In order to give your repaint the best chance for reasonably= long-term survival, you're going to have to do a lot more prep than just wa= shing the bus.  Attaching the rust means grinding the area down to bare= metal, treating it with some kind of rust inhibitor, priming, and sanding i= t.  If your bus has more than just a spot or two of seam rust, this who= le process can become a major undertaking.

Never having had any dealing with either of these two busine= sses, I really can't comment on what they do and how they do it.  There= are, however, reputations and second hand information floating about the li= st that leads one to fairly scream, 'don't whatever you do, go to these plac= es!'  To get a decent paint job, the your bus is going to have to strip= ped of all attachments - mirrors, molding, bumpers, windows - prepped - mean= ing taken down to bare metal - primed, sanded, base coated, and finally top = coated with a quality paint.  And this quality job is not available fro= m a franchise without paying a hefty price for it.  The paint job you'r= e looking for is not available at the price you're paying.  You're goin= g to get a van that's been shot with a top-coat and that's about it.  Y= ou'll be lucky if they mask everything properly.

As an alternate, consider doing the job yourself by enrollin= g in a BOCES- or continuing education-type course at the local VoTech school= .  Or perhaps contact the local VoTech to see if they would like to hav= e a class project - painting your bus.

Sorry this is a little long winded.  I've gone thru thi= s before.  Lowest price I received for a quality paint job was $4200. &= nbsp;Macco, on the other hand, quoted $700.  Haven't gone either way, b= ut I am saving some $$$ for another vehicle (hopefully a MB 240D or 300D) so= I can take my bus off the road and finally get the rust under control. &nbs= p;And it looks like I'm going the VoTech route...

Alan Bosch
& Phred ('88 Wolfsburg)