Doc on tour, France, Spain, Morroco.

[Mikey RV]

When you take into account the cost of ferries, fuel, insurance, etc and then the bill for doing a not good job that you will have to do again you could have got it done properly in the uk.
I know you were travelling anyway but the reason you went there was to get paintwork done.
Sorry Tam for being so negative but the clues are all around you.

 

[JockandRita]

That's on a Fiat though

It looks twin wheeled on the rear axle Martin, possibly with the same 2.8TDI engine that Tam has.
Weren't the 8.5M Fiat based Flairs on an Alko tandem chassis?

Cheers,

Jock.

 

[TinaLes]

Memories of my youth.
Tam, maybe like you, I sprayed 4 cars when I was a teenager, last one was when I was 21. I had to do them one side at a time in my mums small garage, with a small compressor & spray gun. The prep work took ages and was done mainly by hand, or my Black & Decker Drill with sanding disk, its all I/we had in those days.
I used cellulose Paint with fast thinners, the thinners cost nearly as much as the paint! Even though I was an amateur/improver you might say, I still tried my best to get the cars as good as possible, starting with the grey or beige primer, I gave the panels two coats, followed by a mist coat of black, then rubbed down with wet & dry lightly by hand until the black mist coat was gone, to try and ensure it was a flat as possible.
I then sprayed the top coats, being as careful as possible not to get runs, after doing a few you know where this is most likely to happen, so I just went back and sprayed those more difficult areas with thinner coats more often.

I didnt have the best compressor or spray gun, so it was hard not to get some orange peel on the final coat, but a very thin final coat of mainly thinners with a dash of colour helped a lot. There was no Clear Coat in those days, or if there was I didnt know about it.
Having left the cars to dry outside for a day or two, I got the buffer out and used some cutting paste to get the best finish I could. The more cars I did the better they got, but I remember how hard the work was, and the tears at times as I had to re do bits that had run.

My Question is: Don't these guys apply a mist coat over the primer coats, then smooth off for the best possible base?
I guess not at those prices, but the primer they use should be a Filler Primer to the point where they are blending up to, so it all blends in and is as flat as possible.
I know it sounds daft, but I would be out there rubbing down that back bumper myself, if I was unsure they would do it to my satisfaction, having travelled all that way as well.
Fingers crossed they do a good job, as for having the van all one colour thats your call, but to me it makes sense to have the darker wheel arches and lower side skirts as they are the first bits to show dirt even on a short run.
I hope they keep that thin chrome strip along the middle of the bottom side skirt visible as all these little touches make the van look good.
LES

 

[Al n Val]

I say what I think, it’s a Yorkshire thing

Tam

STEP AWAY FROM THE COWBOY PAINT SHOP

or at least do not pay a penny until your 100% happy with the results.

I hope i’m wrong but your comments certainly fill me with dread and especially when you’ve a premium van

Good Luck

I’ll quote myself

 

[funflair]

It looks twin wheeled on the rear axle Martin, possibly with the same 2.8TDI engine that Tam has.
Weren't the 8.5M Fiat based Flairs on an Alko tandem chassis?

Cheers,

Jock.

No double floor though Jock, more research needed I think

EDIT, after further research I could be wrong, it has IVECO style wheel trims

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[Northernraider]

Tam come home and have the job done properly ,otherwise I think you’ll end up paying twice,many years ago I took our Flair to someone who I was told were realy good he started working on it and it told him leave it alone you haven’t got a clue and drove home.Then paid to have it done properly.

To do what I want done would cost a few grand in the UK, its not worth the price as the van has a limited and declining value.

They can do a decent job here when they put their mind to it .

They're not getting to paint it till it's sanded properly.

 

[Northernraider]

No double floor though Jock, more research needed I think

EDIT, after further research I could be wrong, it has IVECO style wheel trims

I believe its the same van as mine Martin

 

[Carpmart]

So what’s the main man saying then Northernraider? Is he in agreement it needs flatting off some more?

 

[Northernraider]

Well I spoke to momo this morning and told him I believed it needed more sanding and was concerned that the guy was masking up. He insisted that once masked up there will be more sanding before priming .. its all masked up and the guys nowhere to be seen . I've constantly had to ruin his masking as he keeps covering my garage and lockers thst I need things out of .

If momo comes at any point to say they're ready to prime it I'll be telling him again it is not ready for primer until the rear bumper and rear arches are sanded properly. The front bumper is sanded OK as is the side skirts. I was continuing removing the stripe ...I wasn't finished bit the guy has masked over the fecking thing.

I'm in no rush , I'm taking up a space and until it's done till I'm happy I'm not moving it . Or giving them any money, he's not had a penny from me yet.

There's a couple of other brits here now too , I prepared them to keep an eye on them .

The fairly new transit is out the booth.. I've had a quick look buy I'm gonna ask the guy for a closer look after lunch and I might get a photo or two.

Spoke to a few folk today and most seem happy with their results.


If they sand it properly the finish should be good . It won't be as good as a 3 grand Job but I'd also not pay 3 grand to have the job done.

 

[TinaLes]

Hi Tam
Just found this comparison for you, with a very cheeky asking price, and not much detail on spec, but the colour scheme being white might help you reinforce your decision on changing colour arround the bottom, front & back.
Have a good one.
LES

https://suchen.mobile.de/fahrzeuge/details.html?id=413450755&action=eyeCatcher&cn=DE&ft=DIESEL&isSearchRequest=true&ms=18600%3B%3B%3B&od=down&pageNumber=3&ref=srp&refId=6a48444d-0501-023e-8327-553974406fb1&s=Motorhome&sb=doc&searchId=6a48444d-0501-023e-8327-553974406fb1&vc=Motorhome

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[Northernraider]

So what’s the main man saying then Northernraider? Is he in agreement it needs flatting off some more?

Hes not looked at it. When I spoke to him he insisted there will be more sanding.


I think when they come to prime it and I tell him they're not doing it he'll pay more notice.

If they don't it won't get done.


Incidentally the other 2 paintshops in tafroute are very quiet ...there's 3 vans at chez whatsit and hassan only has a few too. They're all here

 

[Northernraider]

Lol and as luck would have it masking Mickey has just been to tell me to take it In the booth . He was told no . He doesn't speak english so I expect momo imminently

 

[CaptainPaul]

It'll be fine Tam, try to relax
We suffer more often in our imagination than we do in reality

 

[Northernraider]

It'll be fine Tam, try to relax
We suffer more often in our imagination than we do in reality

It won't be fine if they paint it as it is now Paul. The paint won't stick. The van was polished and waxed to death and the rear bumper hasn't seen sand paper. The rear arches are the same. It would look OK but the paint would come off first time I washed it.

 

[Northernraider]

Even the wee guy who did my euramobil in kenitra 2 years ago sanded the bumpers down more than this.

No one checks these guys work that just hope they can blag it as most punters won't have a clue about any of it.

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[CaptainPaul]

It won't be fine if they paint it as it is now Paul. The paint won't stick. The van was polished and waxed to death and the rear bumper hasn't seen sand paper. The rear arches are the same. It would look OK but the paint would come off first time I washed it.

Yes but didn't he say there's more sanding to do,
Yes but if all his previous paint jobs washed off after their first wash he would have no clients and reviews that would destroy his business
Try to see the positives

 

[Rollingwheels]

Yeah momo speaks English and he's the boss. He's got nae money from me yet either lol.

No idea what the folk with the blue van paid . They seem very happy with it though. Maybe we brits are different from the rest of Europe, I just have higher standards. If it had been moby I'd not be as fussy but this is a quality van I want it looking its best.


If I was that Concorde owner I'd be having feckin kittens . That's gotta be worth upwards of £80k surely and look at it View attachment 1000688

All to remove the black decals....that are still on the other side

Ain’t worth 80k now

 

[JockandRita]

No double floor though Jock, more research needed I think

EDIT, after further research I could be wrong, it has IVECO style wheel trims

Along with the Iveco twin rear wheels I mentioned earlier Martin.

Cheers,

Jock.

 

[funflair]

Along with the Iveco twin rear wheels I mentioned earlier Martin.

Cheers,

Jock.

OK you win couldn’t see the twins but everything else points to me being wrong again

 

[PaulW2]

On reflection (ha ha...) this could actually be a masterpiece, don't you think?

Note how you have two colours but three distinct textures/levels of glossiness. The glossy blue, above it the glossy grey, then the less glossy grey, then the almost-matt grey.

If that was intentional and requested then that is ... an achievement of a sort.

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[Drexxer]

On reflection (ha ha...) this could actually be a masterpiece, don't you think?

Note how you have two colours but three distinct textures/levels of glossiness. The glossy blue, above it the glossy grey, then the less glossy grey, then the almost-matt grey.

If that was intentional and requested then that is ... an achievement of a sort.



View attachment 1000986

I think it's growing on me

 

[Al n Val]

I think it's growing on me

A wart grows on you

in a nutshell it’s fxxkin horrible

 

[PaulW2]

A wart grows on you

in a nutshell it’s fxxkin horrible

Maybe we could see a photo of the back which also has yellow on it.

Before they display it in the Uffizi.

With a sound track

Out of the blue
and into the black
They give you this,
but you pay for that
And once you're gone,
you can never come back
When you're out of the blue
and into the black.

 

[scotzsue]

I quite like ugly but that is

 

[Flairy]

Tam I had my front and rear bumper done and wheel arches front and rear +tow bar £1000

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[JockandRita]

but everything else points to me being wrong again

Which is as much of a rarity, as a rare thing for you Martin.

Cheers,

Jock.

 

[Northernraider]

Yes but didn't he say there's more sanding to do,
Yes but if all his previous paint jobs washed off after their first wash he would have no clients and reviews that would destroy his business
Try to see the positives

He was going to prime it today , I told him no .



Hes finally got the guy back to sand it more but I feel I'm gonna be chasing his ass all day .


I've accepted the fact it just isn't going to be perfect. There's not a single van I've looked at that has a good finish.

I've been chatting with the German guy with the grey transit camper for the last hour. He's had a lot of it painted black where again his vinyl decals had faded the camper is only 16 months old . But he plans to sell it this year.

All the paint they've done has orange peel so I expect that's going to be how mine turns out . I will have to see the end result to see if it looks better than it did before I started. But until its sanded properly I'm not letting them prime it.


I'm committed now unfortunately so unless I want to drive it looking like a mess for months I've little choice but to have it done .. it just may take longer but that's OK I was prepared to be here a few weeks anyway.


The guy with the Concorde is having it full respray... because the paint is now knackered

I spoke to him briefly .

It's not that old only a few years I think and he said it was nearly €400 euro new

I don't know if that's correct or not ...maybe others on here can tell how old it is


There's lots of folk having little bits repaired on motorhomes . There's another British one here now too.


Put it this way Paul if you damage your cathargo don't have it painted here lol.

 

[Northernraider]

On reflection (ha ha...) this could actually be a masterpiece, don't you think?

Note how you have two colours but three distinct textures/levels of glossiness. The glossy blue, above it the glossy grey, then the less glossy grey, then the almost-matt grey.

If that was intentional and requested then that is ... an achievement of a sort.



View attachment 1000986

The silver and blue is aluminium the grey at the bottom is plastic and the plastic looks the best bit ....but probably because they didn't sand it lol .


The blue bit is absolutely terrible but the owners are sat outside so I can't take more photos.

They're happy with it. Their last one was a 40 year old converted bus called Tödi....and was the same colours apparently. They're actually Swiss not Italian it's the small sprinter on the other side that's Italians.

 

[Northernraider]

Tam I had my front and rear bumper done and wheel arches front and rear +tow bar £1000View attachment 1001000

Yes I'd I'd just stuck to having the front bumper done grey it wouldn't have been so much a problem .. but I need the front end , the drivers door and the full bottom skirts and bumpers done now. In the UK it would be at least 3k for a good job.


So I'm now committed to just trying to make sure they do as much prep as possible and hope it turns out reasonably well .


Perfect it is not going to be.....I know that for a fact.


Once again I've made a wrong decision. I don't know why I bother anymore.


End of the day I just hope it looks better than it did when I bought it.

 

[Drexxer]

It will look better Tam, if the paint has a bit of orange peel, could you not wet n dry it when it's hardened then polish to get a flatter finish?

I know nothing of paint prep etc

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