Community Forums

funjnt · 10-06-2016, 03:46 AM

Ok here is a serious question about re-painting our coach. Story goes like this: Our coach that is new to us came from Az and has clear coat damage. It is starting to peel where it is just sprayed over the gel coat. I have spoken with a few places about just re clear coating it. They say it has to be painted first to have the clear coat last as in spraying it over the gel coat wasn't the best thing.

Here is the question: When getting a coach re-painted I can have it painted like a new coach with all the graphics etc. OR get it painted the exact same as original. Being a 2000 allure it is kind of older and sort of retro. Would a CC purist or fan prefer an original paint job or one of newer style? Would a new style paint job ruin the original style or improve an older coach?

Here is a body shop I found in another forum on here that was recommended. He has several before and after pics of older coaches being re-painted and I have to say I like the new style but can't picture it on ours. This guy paints a lot of coaches each year and has given me a fair ball park price on the phone.

Mike's Custom Painting Inc. Home Page

Let the debate begin! Thanks!

mike brez · 10-06-2016, 07:58 AM

Looking at the before and afters i like the more modern style.
Can you share what the price is for new paint?
I remember reading a long time ago about a fella that sued CC they advertised full body paint when in reality it was just clear over fiberglass.

smlranger · 10-06-2016, 08:13 AM

We had a 2002 Winnebago Journey that did not have full body paint. We had it painted by a shop in Durham, NC. I am not a fan of most of the newer 'swirly' paint jobs so we picked a more conservative scheme and left a lot of the coach white (painted white) with some added colors. It was a 5 color job with four coats of clear. It was stunning.

http://www.irv2.com/forums/blogs/1549-smlranger.html

If you look at the Precision Painting website (they are in Bremen, IN), they have many samples of various color schemes. We actually picked one from their website and changed the colors.

kustom · 10-06-2016, 09:23 AM

i like the new modern looks

ronspradley · 10-06-2016, 09:39 AM

You might try out a winter in southern Arizona and get your paint job in Mexico. Have heard good things about that approach.

ronspradley

DTS · 10-06-2016, 09:44 AM

Wow that custom paint really wakes up those Alfa See Ya's in the before/after shots! I also like the modern paint schemes however I'm a bit more of a purist when it comes to keeping classic vehicles true to origin. An Alfa isn't a classic so anything to polish that turd is great LOL. A classic Country Coach like yours though (and mine), in my opinion should retain the essence of the original. I've dreamed about having mine painted too, as I also have been peeling where the clear coat is over the white gelcoat (only dreamed, I'm afraid to even ask how much it would cost!). But if I did it I think I would preserve the original paint scheme but perhaps add a color in place of the white as the base coat. Like maybe a light silver or something that goes well with the existing colors. But its your coach, so do with it whatever you will like best. Paint it for you, not for the next guy. Just my opinion.

**JohnRR** · 10-06-2016, 09:51 AM

You need to consider what you would feel comfortable with, it's your money and you have to live wide it.

I for one am not a huge fan of the swirls but I have to admit in the before and after gallery they sure made the coaches stand out in a positive way.

bneukam · 10-06-2016, 10:47 AM

I agree with Dusty as you should do it to your taste.

Personally I like the look of these vintage coaches, but don't like the bottom 1/3 painted different than the upper 2/3. In 2001 they went away with this and just painted the entire coach the same color with some nice simple graphics.

kerryvan · 10-06-2016, 10:58 AM

was reading on another forum concerning the graphics chipping, after further analysis, it was the fiberglass delaminating due to the dark colors and being in the sun. On some other posts, people are doing some strange things to keep the solar heat out of the coach, thermal shades, insulating any top side windows, in bathroom and others they had... Alfa were always white, wonder if it was due to trying to keep the coach cooler... Just saying, I would avoid dark colors...

CntryCoachRV · 10-06-2016, 12:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by funjnt

Ok here is a serious question about re-painting our coach. Story goes like this: Our coach that is new to us came from Az and has clear coat damage. It is starting to peel where it is just sprayed over the gel coat. I have spoken with a few places about just re clear coating it. They say it has to be painted first to have the clear coat last as in spraying it over the gel coat wasn't the best thing.

Here is the question: When getting a coach re-painted I can have it painted like a new coach with all the graphics etc. OR get it painted the exact same as original. Being a 2000 allure it is kind of older and sort of retro. Would a CC purist or fan prefer an original paint job or one of newer style? Would a new style paint job ruin the original style or improve an older coach?

Here is a body shop I found in another forum on here that was recommended. He has several before and after pics of older coaches being re-painted and I have to say I like the new style but can't picture it on ours. This guy paints a lot of coaches each year and has given me a fair ball park price on the phone.

Mike's Custom Painting Inc. Home Page

Let the debate begin! Thanks!

I have clear coat peeling on the sides and on the back cap on my 2000 Intrigue, I am debating on spending the kind of money I have heard thrown around on different RV blogs. I am curious about the ball park figure he gave you for full paint job, graphics and clear coat. Do you mind sharing that?

The numbers I have heard would probably be about half the current value of my coach!

Ray
2000 Intrigue

dons2346 · 10-06-2016, 12:50 PM

If I was to have mine painted, I would stick with the original scheme.

I do not like the new, super swirly paint jobs. It looks like each manufacturer is trying to out do the next with more swirleys

Smitty77 · 10-06-2016, 02:57 PM

Yep, paint it the way you want it

!

I'm a simple man (Or maybe I got that wrong? But my wife says something to me with the word simple in all the time. Maybe it was a simple mind?), and not a fan of the swirls seen on the majority of the newer coaches. I really liked the old gel gloss only beige and cream color CC's of say 1995-1998.

I also believe the color choices can make a big differences in two key areas of owning a coach. 1) Lighter color choices = lower heat gain inside. 2) Lighter color, specifically Beige, Tan, Light Brown like colors - are much more forgiving on showing dirt. Especially say behind the drive wheels. (Our coach is two thirds light beige/tan color, with different degrees of darker maroon. The darkest maroon, is flairs up form just in front of the drive wheels, and raises all the way to the roof rails at the back, and on around the back. This results in even a recently washed coach looking dirty behind the wheels, up to say the belt line by just going thru a few puddles of water. And, except for the front windshield, our coaches highest heat gain, is from the rear of the coach, due the back end being such a dark maroon color.)

Back to my simple view. I would prefer a two tone paint job, with a medium light beige or brown color below the belt line, and an offsetting lighter beige or brown above the belt line. Maybe one offsetting swirl on the rear, or perhaps a larger CC insignia painted on the rear. Others may find that to be a Plain Jane look. But I'd like the stepping out away from all of the other seemingly runaway swirls on coaches, and the KISS to keeping lighter paints clean, as well as the benefit of a cooler coach too.

But for sure, the person writing the check - has the final say! Or in my case, the DW

!

Best to all,
Smitty

funjnt · 10-07-2016, 05:24 AM

Hey everyone and thanks for all the input. I am on the fence on this one. I am a purist in some ways and think the original re paint would be fantastic. On the other hand I really like some of the new looks on this guys web site and yes especially how the alfa turned out. I am leaning towards the new look I think. My favorite pics are on the photo gallery page, fourth and fifth pic. I do like the newer look and if we ever went to a 10 year and newer only park they would never know this was an older coach.

To answer your question on price. I spoke with mike the owner. I was impressed with him and his business. He has 70 employees and someone on this forum recommended him in another thread. His quote was 14,000.00. I am sure that isn't set in stone as I wouldn't expect it to be. He knew the coach and it's size etc. I got a quote from a site in fla near Orlando, again a ball park price of 20,000.00. That was another place referred to in the other thread. The other thread by the way was in class A and paint shops near Orlando, something like that.

So still thinking on this. Mike is booked through the holidays and we take our coach to fla for the winter for the DW to winter in (she does the horse thing). Would have to be next year but that is ok as we need to save some coins for this project. Our coach is completely rust free underneath as it came from out west. The bones are totally solid and I am ok with this investment. I really like this unit and how they are built. So let's keep this going and see what more people think.

Thanks!

Joe

bneukam · 10-07-2016, 10:19 AM

Joe,
On the photo gallery page I like #4, but not so much on #5. If your going to go with the new look you might as well go for it. #5 still looks like an older rig.

Your coach has the same large windows on the passenger side as my 02 Intrigue. I would think that you would want to bring the solid blue color on #5 down a little to include both sets of windows. Just my thoughts.