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Paint Your Wagon - with a roller!

Posted: 12 Apr 2007, 21:32
by CovKid
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Intro: (updated February 2017)

Welcome to the beginning of a VERY long thread I started over ten years ago. I have since had to come back and re-E D I T this first post to recap and provide quick links to all the important stuff. Now in excess of half a million views and almost 3,000 posts, the thread is full of ideas and first hand experience by all those that have followed my instructions for repainting a T25 for under £50. If you don't want to read it all, who can blame you, but this first page should provide the essential links to get you started.

Firstly, there is now a 45 minute DVD available for £7.50 as an MP4 download which includes a PDF helpsheet, showing you how to tackle this entire project. It covers the materials needed, preparation, masking, mixing, painting and finishing:

http://roller.epizy.com/55554/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; for MP4 download.

Its amusing in places and many will find it much easier to follow than trawling this thread and helps avoid classic schoolboy blunders.

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For those that wish to learn more, feel free to read through these pages as they contains all theoretical answers you might need to transform a tired and chipped surface into a clean, vibrant one - even a change of colour. Since I started this, the concept has taken off in a big way and I'm constantly seeing T25s even in my own area that have been rollered. The low-cost coupled with a rust-inhibiting paint, makes it a project within the reach of almost anyone, helps preserve the bodywork and perfect on such a large vehicle that you don't want off the road for months. The ladies particularly, seem to have a flair for this, perhaps due to their attention to detail but I do suggest you work in pairs - one to paint, one to spot errors. The DVD explains all this and more.

Some Rustoleum Combicolor suppliers (particularly paintshop.ie who are well aware of this thread) will give 80/90 members a discount.

Because the thread is now rather large, I've created this revised intro and you might like to find a comfy chair and just plod through it. Some comments have since been transferred to the WIKI along with relevant photos. Body repairs are a different issue and you need to do all of that before even attempting this. Also, if you paint and your T25 has very old window rubbers, when it rains these will ruin the paint job, so consider the general condition of the body and window seals FIRST and put these right.

Before and after Roller Gallery: http://forum.club8090.co.uk/viewtopic.p ... 9#p7693819" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

For those only interested in spraying, theres a thread for that too: http://forum.club8090.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=66623


Returning to the story..............

Time for an update: (posted April 2007)

I left things a week and fortunately we had at least a day or so of baking sun to really harden the paint up. I wasn't keen on the prospect of using wet and dry the day after painting. Paint has a habit of remaining soft underneath and as its basically like an acrylic, it can take a few days to really set. I gave it a full week and would recommend anyone else who wants to try this method of painting allow three weeks really.

First I tackled the front (bonnet if you like) with soapy 600 grade wet and dry. I'd say thats about right for flatting back. You can use finer but you'll be working hard if you do. I basically flatted it back baby smooth again - few areas where the old paint showed through but thats to be expected.

Second coat was a lot easier as by now I'd got the mix right (around 10-18% thinnners). I use a new tray and roller head every time and this seems to be the way to do things. Second coat seemed to gloss out better (less orange peely).

Trick is not to spend more time on an area than needed to cover it and work briskly, one roll to cover it, one to even paint out and a gentle roll (pressure of roller only) to assist any air bubbles out. Don't be tempted to go back to areas unless you have to (ie a bad run somewhere) as within about 3 mins its unworkable and you'll end up putting too much paint on in one go. After about 8 minutes it'll level out and start to skin over. Every layer should be THIN. Don't try to pile on paint as you'll give yourself no end of grief doing that. Just keep layers smooth (no hard lines) and then LEAVE IT ALONE to dry.

Rob came round and said the finish was no worse or better than his properly sprayed job but with a final flat and polish theres no reason why you couldn't actually end up with a paint job that equals a good spray job and unlike a lot of automotive paints, this stuff doeswn't need primer and will go over rust too.

Don't paint in blazing sun. It'll dry VERY quickly in the sun but if you have no choice, you must thin the paint even more! Anyway I'm on second coat now and I've gone from:



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to:

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This is a stock blue from the Rust-oleum range but you could get it mixed professionally if you wanted a particular shade I guess.

Posted: 12 Apr 2007, 21:59
by Other-Power
:o

Not to shabby at all my friend, not to shabby at all!!!

what sort of cost are we looking at, how much time does a t25 take to rub down :? ?

Good one

Jon

Posted: 12 Apr 2007, 22:00
by Rozzo
hi m8
looks ok, whats it like close up?

Posted: 12 Apr 2007, 22:23
by CovKid
Closeup its as good as any spray job. Finish is in the flatting and the final polish - simple as that. If you want it glass smooth its achievable. I'm in no rush so will do odds and ends over the Summer.

The biggest plus is not having to mask, no paint smells, no mess, and being able to drive it 2 hours later. Cost of paint is £22 - easy enough to paint whole bus. Much of the basic info is in downloads section (Club Stuff) but the DVD is more updated and T25 specific.

http://www.club80-90.co.uk/pages/downloads.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Basically you use high-density mini foam rollers (B&Q do them cheap). I used £1 shop rollers and trays but swap the roller heads over. White Spirits to thin with.

Posted: 12 Apr 2007, 22:52
by Rozzo
sorry to be a pain but is it easy to cover the van with all the mouldings/pressings in the bodywork? and how big are the rollers?

Posted: 12 Apr 2007, 22:57
by Willoughby

Posted: 12 Apr 2007, 23:09
by CovKid
rozzolink wrote:sorry to be a pain but is it easy to cover the van with all the mouldings/pressings in the bodywork? and how big are the rollers?

Yeah dead easy. For guttering you use a foam brush (£1 shops often do bags full of foam brushes). I can do one whole side of a T25 in under 10 mins. Rollers are only 4" wide so get in anywhere really.

No need to do all the masking you need for spraying. Just mask window rubbers, tank filler, that kind of thing. Its a very hard paint once it really cures.

Having tried this, theres NO way i'd ever consider spraying a T25 again although you can spray this paint if you want to.

Lawsons in Southampton are the people to get it from. They have a slight price reduction at the mo - £19 I think.

Posted: 13 Apr 2007, 06:34
by camper
Covkid it looks a great job on your van .I used this method with a roller for a resprayed 1982 T25 Devon. It had been repainted with a non standard vw colour many years ago but was requiring doing again.I went to Halfords to get some paint from there matching service using the vehicle paint code.Only to discover the colour was not the same.I could not afford to get it done by a paint shop for a respray.So i went to BQ with a sample of the the vans paint to the mix&match dept and then scanned to get the right colour.I then obtained a litre of the paint and used your method with a roller .The finished turned out great .

Posted: 13 Apr 2007, 08:00
by CovKid
The only problem with household paint is its not durable enough but you can see my point. You can achieve excellent results with a roller. What you CAN'T do is put on three or four layers with a roller and hope to match a spray job. The real work is in the sanding back between layers. If you do that consistently you can definately match spraying and its something you can do for a couple of hours each Sunday (or when time permits) rather than having to book your garage for several weeks and make a home-made spray booth. There are health factors with that, let alone local bylaws and annoyed neighbours.

However, this paint isn't even as strong as the smell of standard gloss paint and is designed to go directly over raw steel - even slightly rusty steel. In my case I prepped fully and used Vactan rust stopper in places I know can see later problems (like seams) and got everything nice and flat to start with. Its also unaffected by whatever paint is already on the vehicle.

I do recommend that you practice on say, an old washing machine first to get used to how you need to work and the correct thinner ratio before attacking you vehicle. Once you get a feel for rust-oleum combicolor, you're away.

T25's are not the only ones being rollered. Its really caught on: http://www.volkszone.com/VZi/showthread ... ge=1&pp=10

I'm told that the Lawsons, the Southampton supplier of Rust-oleum (its made in Holland by the way) are very helpful. However, the link above shows you many people doing beetles, type2's etc. I think I'm getting better results than some of those shown actually but again, its all down to the prepping before and after. This is the finish BEFORE flatting back and polishing and its only ONE coat too in the photo:

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Posted: 13 Apr 2007, 09:59
by T'Onion
I've got about 4 litres of orange Tekaloid coach paint in the shed .... mmm now where did i put them rollers 8)

Posted: 13 Apr 2007, 10:38
by Ian Hulley
T'Onion wrote: mmm now where did i put them rollers 8)

In yer hair ? :?:

:whistle

Posted: 13 Apr 2007, 14:09
by CovKid
Tekloid is not the same paint or formulation.

Posted: 13 Apr 2007, 15:36
by billymaya
hi covkid cracking job on your van like it alot looking spanking just out of interest could this be done out side? im just imagining dust and flies sticking all over the way paint grrrrr,im seriously thinking of going down the route you have taken as i cant afford to splash out £2000 for a spray job

Posted: 13 Apr 2007, 16:58
by Willoughby
Hi

I'am going to give this a go. I want to keep my van white'ish but don't like the original L90D Pastel White any suggestions of a nice white/cream.

Kev

Posted: 13 Apr 2007, 19:24
by Magnum
Ordered my paint from Lawsons this week, Lawsons are really helpful! Did you use ordinary white spirit or the stuff Lawsons recomend?