Re-painted my 87 fiberglass Telstar

[Sam Green]

It really wasn't as difficult as I had expected.  I got the idea from our friend Stu Mitchell here on GORVs.  Stu reccommended a method called "roll and tip" and a brand called Interlux Brightside.  I knew that I couldn't spray paint my MH and I certainly could not afford from 3,000 to 20,000 dollars for a professional paint job.  (some of the quotes I received by calling around).  I thought by gosh I can roll paint, I have done several houses and many walls, why not a MH.  So I proceded to do some investigating.

 

I went to the web site for Interlux Paints (this is a fiberglass boat paint) and low and behold they have all kinds of instructions even videos of how to do this roll and tip and the necessary preparation steps to do it right.  I then started to check paint prices and ended up at the Jamestown Distributors web site.  They also have the instructions and videos. 

 

The Interlux brand did not have the color scheme that we were wanting so I checked out another brand "Pettits" that Jamestown also carries and they had what we were wanting.  Both paints are supposed to be about the same.  One step, Polyurethane based epoxy.  After going over the instructions a few times, I decided that I could do it.  I placed my order and started the prep, wash job first, removing all accessories that I could.  My supplies arrived, I started step two, wipe down the entire vehicle with their cleaner to remove old wax, etc. step three, using 220 sandpaper and an orbital sander remove any remaining residue and just break the glare off of the original paint.  Step four, again wipe down the vehicle with the cleaner to remove sanding dust. Step five wipe an area to be painted with a tack cloth and Step six, mask off the vehicle and begin roll and tip.  I did buy one quart of primer to use where I did some minor fiberglass bondo repair and where I went through paint to raw fiberglass (a few spots).

 

I ended up using one gallon and a small portion of 1 quart of paint plus a small amount of the primer.  My MH is 23 feet long (bumper to bumper) 8 feet wide and 8 feet 6 inches high.  I painted the fiberglass roof also as it is molded fiberglass and does not require rubberized sealant, etc.

 

My total bill for all of this was under 400.00.  If you are interested in doing this I will be glad to answer or help you find answers to any of your questions.

[Chuck]

Looks great. Can't tell from the photo's if there are any paint lines. My 73 Balboa is still in good shape but I have some small cracks near widows and doors in the gel coat finish. I doubt that a touchup will look very good so I will probably have to paint the whole thing.

[Nick Thegreek]

Hi Sam, I am glad that my post gave you some ideas! Hey My ole GMC has more then a few blemishes on the outside but hey who can see them at 65 MPH? LOL

[Sam Green]

Thank you very much Nick, believe it or not, I got some of my motivation for roll painting mine from you.  I must admit, I read your post regarding your paint job but I did not reply to it.  I apologize for that.  At that time, I thought "hey, that's a good idea and I'll bet I could do it."  Your paint job came out real nice also.  I have a few blemishes in  mine but like I told  my son-in-law, you can't see them from the street.  After reading your post and finding another by Stu Mitchell, I decided to look into it and this is how it turned out.  I am real pleased with it.  Thank you for the idea.

[Nick Thegreek]

Super job on the paint job. I rolled mine to but instead of polyurethane paint I went with a recipe I came up with.

I used the remaining elastomeric roof coating i had left over and mixed some dark brown exterior brown paint in it and started to roll. Turned out pretty good even if I do say so and is holding up real well- Total cost for the paint- about $100. Also loved what you did with the interior of your rig looks great!

[Sam Green]

Thank you for the compliment, it was really a fun job to do.  I bought a couple of tubes of a polyurethane based caulking from Jamestown Distributors for all of my seam and window caulking.  It is supposed to withstand weather and flexing better than sylicone.  Glad to have you as a friend.  Your RV is interesting looking inside, never seen one like that. 

[The Spencer's]

I just checked out  your pictures - great job on the paint job! It looks 100% better, that's unbelievable!! What do you use to seal between the cab and camper part?