How much paint for a School Bus?

'68 Coronet R/T said:
The more you guys post, the less I want to do this job. :(
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well, if i was to consider any thing like this, i would look at it like a trailer or equipment. if you look at it like the cars you have done, its going to get to the point of too much fast. a two quart remote gun and single stage solid color. a show quality metallic? no way.
 
chevman said:
Did the semi cab you painted have rivets? Sanding around them is time comsuming.
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Yes, it did.
Clear First Coat 1.jpg
 
That looks nice. if you can break the bus up into sections it wont "terrible". Hardest part would be the roof and I hope they want it white. I've never painted outside so I don't know the challenges of that.

Just the cost for materials and labor. I am assuming base/clear with the color selection. And the labor for me would be astronomical. This type of a job is pretty hard to swallow as far as favors go. Maybe if they do ALL of the tear down it'll help for sure.

I really don't even know why I comment on these posts. I'm pretty jaded these days with doing paintwork for people so my attitude is pretty poor about big jobs.

But again, if you can break it up into smaller sessions it probably wont be that exhausting.
 
This truck was a mess when I got it. Holes in the cab and hood, plus he wanted the side wings removed and the interior redone.
Front Left.JPG


Checked my notes and I had over 260 hours of labor in it and $2200 in material, but this was over 8 years ago. Everything has about doubled in price since then. Dodge Destroy Gray was $375 a gallon and the Euro Clear was $132.83. :cool:

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Rear.jpg
 
OJ86 said:
That looks nice. if you can break the bus up into sections it wont "terrible". Hardest part would be the roof and I hope they want it white. I've never painted outside so I don't know the challenges of that.

Just the cost for materials and labor. I am assuming base/clear with the color selection. And the labor for me would be astronomical. This type of a job is pretty hard to swallow as far as favors go. Maybe if they do ALL of the tear down it'll help for sure.

I really don't even know why I comment on these posts. I'm pretty jaded these days with doing paintwork for people so my attitude is pretty poor about big jobs.

But again, if you can break it up into smaller sessions it probably wont be that exhausting.
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OJADED
 
'68 Coronet R/T said:
Thanks, that will work for my RV roof for sure.
These folks are set on dark green metallic for some reason. My guess is his wife!
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They won’t be once they see the price of time and materials for metallic base and clear. And it would really show all the waviness in the side of the bus.

Going over that with 2 coats epoxy, 3 coats base, at least 2 coats clear…that’s a lot of spraying. Even the four coats total I did on that camper was a LOT.

If you have to spray the entire thing outside then your local weather conditions and forecast will provide limitations as well.

Not to mention you’d have to break it up in multiple sessions which could be problematic for consistency of the metallic color.

This is a single stage job.
 
'68 Coronet R/T said:
The more you guys post, the less I want to do this job. :(
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if they are friends or church members. just tell them you are willing to help them, but its too much for you to do by yourself.. maybe get them involved. helping prep or atleast taping or anything. get it done in like 2 weekends. they will see the amount work it takes and probably be ready for it to be over quick. just scuff it, shoot epoxy on it and go straight to color on top , would not treat that the same way you would treat any of your other restoration work. just my opinion.
 
AAE said:
What were you thinking that you would charge? Is it worth the time it's going to take? Do you have other interests that are more important?
The older I get, the easier "No" becomes.
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I'm training myself to use "NO". Getting better at it but sometimes I still forget. My mind says yea you can do that, my body later says no you can't, WTF were you thinking.
 
Okay, made some progress.

They are willing to leave the roof of the bus white, so I won't have to paint that. I also got them to give up on the metallic paint, however they do want Hunter Green.

I am checking on coverage and pricing for Single Stage paint. Not sure about Enamel as it isn't something I have any experience with other than spray cans. Also, I doubt it would be as durable as Single Stage.

Here's a picture of the actual bus I will be painting:

Tims-Bus reduced size.jpg
 
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