Rustoleum Touch Up Job
Posted: Thu May 25, 2017 1:57 pm
Like many Bongo owners I have been suffering from the dreaded rusty arches and sills. I have had my van for about 18 months and with a combination of the Scottish weather and me not having a garage - it was definitely getting worse.
I didn't like that and didn't want to just watch her rust away. I took the van to four different paint shops all without success. All quotes were >1K and some wouldn't paint at all unless I had new sills and arches welded in.
It was at that stage I found all the info about people painting VW vans with Rustoleum. My appetite was suitably wetted. I have no experience of painting motors (bikes yes, motors no) but thought I'd give it a go.
Here's some 'before' pictures.
https://flic.kr/p/TR3Am3
First step was to get rid of the flaky rust. I used a wire brush attachment on my drill (and safety specs peeps )
Second step was to treat rust with Vactan. That's what makes it go black in the pictures.
https://flic.kr/p/UVWAc6
Then I used some body filler to smooth it out. I used a two step mixture and a spreader. I had one hole in the near side sill which I patched with some aluminium mesh and filler.
https://flic.kr/p/V8yBdF
Next stage was to sand the filler down and try and get it reasonably smooth. It had been dry up until now and I thought I was progressing well.
My van has plastic wheel arch covers - I tried to take them off by they didn't want to and who knows what was underneath, so I decided to work around them. There have been rear arch repairs in the past - I could tell from the filler I uncovered when sanding those areas.
Before paint I had to mask off the rest of the bodywork. What a PITA! If you're doing multiple coats, over a few weeks, you need to remove the tape in between so this is a time consuming part of the process. I was also trying to 'save' my decals which took some crafting.
I prepped the surface using a pound shop Brillo pad and some soapy bubble.
https://flic.kr/p/TTW1SH
Then it was on to the paint. Long story short I struggled to get a matching paint colour in the Rustoleum. I knew my Bongo paint code and I knew that I wanted Silent Silver or as close as I could get but I didn't know what that meant in Rustoleum or in a RAL code which Rawlins used to supply it. I tried matching from an internet picture and failed miserably (you can see a tester patch of whiteish grey in one of the picture on the lower driver side!) At this point I phoned the Rawlins technical help line and they suggested I get an RAL paint chart and match the colour that way. It cost me a tenner or so but I think it was worth it.
https://flic.kr/p/V9wga2
There are only a few metallic choices to choose from. I went with RAL 9022 and I'm pretty pleased with it. There is a slightly darker one but who know if that's better?
I mixed the paint with white spirits as instructed on the internet. A mix of 80-20% is recommended but I probably went a bit thicker than that. There is lots of chat about mixing the paint until it drops off a spoon after 4 seconds but I could never get the metallic paint to drip.
First coat needed a real deep breath, as I knew there was no going back. You can't spray over Rustoleum as it forms a 'skin' so once I was in I was in. I painted the silk on one side. Waited. Thought about it. Waited some more and then thought f it and painted a door. The rest as they say, is history.
https://flic.kr/p/UVWCEn
One coat looked pretty good.
When you're putting on the paint you need to not get it too thick. I tried to get paint on the whole of the panel I was doing before it dried (say in vertical roller strokes) and then even it out in long, light strokes (say horizontal). This worked well apart from one patch on the passenger door that had it in for me!
I waited a week and did two more coats. I haven't flatted it back/ sanded or scrubbed it. It doesn't have an orange peel appearance at the moment and if this was as good as it got, I'd be happy. I am hoping to give it a t cut after three weeks of drying (recommended) and hopefully this will help 'blend' it a little.
From the side it looks ace, if you get it on an angle with the light in a certain direction, you can see some of the roller lines.
https://flic.kr/p/UVWCEn
https://flic.kr/p/TTW1JB
It's not an exact match for Silent Silver but it's good enough. It has a lovely sparkle in the sun which I like. I went all along the side in the end including the little triangle up to the middle of the front wheel. I think it looks better like that.
All in with the paint, filler, rollers etc I reckon about £100. It's not perfect but way better than before and hopefully more protected. I'll never get rid of all the rust but this can be touched up annually as needed for low cost.
Hope you like it. I'll post some pics in a few weeks once I've given her a polish
I didn't like that and didn't want to just watch her rust away. I took the van to four different paint shops all without success. All quotes were >1K and some wouldn't paint at all unless I had new sills and arches welded in.
It was at that stage I found all the info about people painting VW vans with Rustoleum. My appetite was suitably wetted. I have no experience of painting motors (bikes yes, motors no) but thought I'd give it a go.
Here's some 'before' pictures.
https://flic.kr/p/TR3Am3
First step was to get rid of the flaky rust. I used a wire brush attachment on my drill (and safety specs peeps )
Second step was to treat rust with Vactan. That's what makes it go black in the pictures.
https://flic.kr/p/UVWAc6
Then I used some body filler to smooth it out. I used a two step mixture and a spreader. I had one hole in the near side sill which I patched with some aluminium mesh and filler.
https://flic.kr/p/V8yBdF
Next stage was to sand the filler down and try and get it reasonably smooth. It had been dry up until now and I thought I was progressing well.
My van has plastic wheel arch covers - I tried to take them off by they didn't want to and who knows what was underneath, so I decided to work around them. There have been rear arch repairs in the past - I could tell from the filler I uncovered when sanding those areas.
Before paint I had to mask off the rest of the bodywork. What a PITA! If you're doing multiple coats, over a few weeks, you need to remove the tape in between so this is a time consuming part of the process. I was also trying to 'save' my decals which took some crafting.
I prepped the surface using a pound shop Brillo pad and some soapy bubble.
https://flic.kr/p/TTW1SH
Then it was on to the paint. Long story short I struggled to get a matching paint colour in the Rustoleum. I knew my Bongo paint code and I knew that I wanted Silent Silver or as close as I could get but I didn't know what that meant in Rustoleum or in a RAL code which Rawlins used to supply it. I tried matching from an internet picture and failed miserably (you can see a tester patch of whiteish grey in one of the picture on the lower driver side!) At this point I phoned the Rawlins technical help line and they suggested I get an RAL paint chart and match the colour that way. It cost me a tenner or so but I think it was worth it.
https://flic.kr/p/V9wga2
There are only a few metallic choices to choose from. I went with RAL 9022 and I'm pretty pleased with it. There is a slightly darker one but who know if that's better?
I mixed the paint with white spirits as instructed on the internet. A mix of 80-20% is recommended but I probably went a bit thicker than that. There is lots of chat about mixing the paint until it drops off a spoon after 4 seconds but I could never get the metallic paint to drip.
First coat needed a real deep breath, as I knew there was no going back. You can't spray over Rustoleum as it forms a 'skin' so once I was in I was in. I painted the silk on one side. Waited. Thought about it. Waited some more and then thought f it and painted a door. The rest as they say, is history.
https://flic.kr/p/UVWCEn
One coat looked pretty good.
When you're putting on the paint you need to not get it too thick. I tried to get paint on the whole of the panel I was doing before it dried (say in vertical roller strokes) and then even it out in long, light strokes (say horizontal). This worked well apart from one patch on the passenger door that had it in for me!
I waited a week and did two more coats. I haven't flatted it back/ sanded or scrubbed it. It doesn't have an orange peel appearance at the moment and if this was as good as it got, I'd be happy. I am hoping to give it a t cut after three weeks of drying (recommended) and hopefully this will help 'blend' it a little.
From the side it looks ace, if you get it on an angle with the light in a certain direction, you can see some of the roller lines.
https://flic.kr/p/UVWCEn
https://flic.kr/p/TTW1JB
It's not an exact match for Silent Silver but it's good enough. It has a lovely sparkle in the sun which I like. I went all along the side in the end including the little triangle up to the middle of the front wheel. I think it looks better like that.
All in with the paint, filler, rollers etc I reckon about £100. It's not perfect but way better than before and hopefully more protected. I'll never get rid of all the rust but this can be touched up annually as needed for low cost.
Hope you like it. I'll post some pics in a few weeks once I've given her a polish