In an earlier post, Dallas said:

question 2..I want to paint my bus by myself(and with my friends) before my
dad and I strip it down this summer and have it painted nicely...you
know, just for fun..what kind of paint should I use, or will doing that screw
up my chances of having a
nice paint job later on..      Thanks   Dallas

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-: I say....

I'm certainly no expert, but unless you're planning on disassembling the
bus and having it dipped to remove paint (you're not, are you?), you'll
increase the work effort by painting it now. I'm guessing you're thinking
about taking spray cans and painting funky designs. Well, I would suspect
that paint from spray cans, especially when applied to unprepped surfaces
is apt to crack and peel with age, so you'll have to remove all of it
before getting a "good" paint job--one that will last for years without 
peeling and cracking and bubbling up.

Dallas, if you don't know much about bodywork and painting, I'd recommend
reading up and paying attention. There's A LOT of up-front work to do
before the first coat of paint goes on and if you're new to bodywork and
prep-work for painting (at least if you're like me), you'll have to re-do
some stuff as you make misteaks (er, "mistakes"). I'm not trying to do a
show-quality job, but I probably did over 100 hours of body work before
doing ANY painting. Okay, I'm slow, but not THAT slow. 

My 2 cents. 8) Joe

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Joseph F. Fournier II <jfourni@comp.uark.edu> 501.575.7353
<a href="http://comp.uark.edu/~jfourni/"> Joe Fournier</a>
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