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Full Body Paint vs Lower Body Paint

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sailors35

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Full Body Paint vs Lower Body Paint
« on: January 03, 2017, 09:46:21 pm »
Would welcome any thoughts about this.  Durability, etc.  Cost benefit.
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Caflashgordon

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Re: Full Body Paint vs Lower Body Paint
« Reply #1 on: January 04, 2017, 02:17:46 am »
Full body paint will be one of my most important options on my next coach.

My 2010 2350 Sprinter has lower body paint only and is not garaged. The painted portion still looks new while the unpainted portion is hard to keep shiny.

On the other hand, I'm getting pretty good at polishing and waxing  :-)

All the best,
Gordon
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- Gordon
'10 2350 Sprinter
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ron-n-toni

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Re: Full Body Paint vs Lower Body Paint
« Reply #2 on: January 04, 2017, 08:35:36 am »
We had a Born Free before our 2351 PC. We chose the full body paint because the gel coat on the Born Free required lots of washing and waxing. The full paint shows very well, needs little care, and even dirty looks good. Would surely do it again even being expensive.
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Ron Dittmer

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Re: Full Body Paint vs Lower Body Paint
« Reply #3 on: January 04, 2017, 10:07:04 am »
I have the same story.  Our previous motor home was a full gel coat.  It was impossible to keep looking right with every passing year.  And we had it garage kept for too.  The full body paint on our PC is so much easier to maintain.  Keep in-mind that if you are going to keep your PC out in the elements all the time as most people do, you can't just neglect it.  It still needs care.  I've seen a couple of older used PCs for sale where the full body paint job didn't hold up well, I assume because they never maintained the finish.  I would think that the desert sun would be hardest on the paint.

If you like the color white for it's ability to resist sun-fade and reflect the heat of the sun better, it might be worth considering getting the house painted white to match the Ford/Sprinter portion.  It should cost a lot less for it's just one color on the house and the cab being left alone.  White paint will be so much easier to maintain than the raw gel coat finish.

I wonder what it would cost to have the house painted white to match the white cab?
« Last Edit: January 04, 2017, 12:20:13 pm by ron.dittmer »
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TomHanlon

Re: Full Body Paint vs Lower Body Paint
« Reply #4 on: January 04, 2017, 11:40:46 am »
If you do a scan on "full body paint" on here you will get tons of information on what we all think.
I use wash and wax on my PC and at 5 years old it still looks like new. There is a reason all the high dollar motorhome come with full body paint.
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David Rotelle

Re: Full Body Paint vs Lower Body Paint
« Reply #5 on: January 04, 2017, 03:37:38 pm »
We are really happy with the  lower body paint on our 2910. I agree the full body paint looks sharp but I personally like the look of the lower body paint, we feel it's a nice clean look.

We do keep our Coach inside and try to keep a nice coat of wax on at least the hood, nose cap and entire rear.

 
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hutch42

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Re: Full Body Paint vs Lower Body Paint
« Reply #6 on: January 05, 2017, 07:41:06 pm »
Having owned two cruising boats over the last 18 years it was always a battle.  Both of mine sat out in the open 365 days a year
with all the salt spray sticking to every nook and granny!  Not fun to deal with.  Not withstanding that there are many Brands and grades of paint that could be used.  Some requiring very little work to keep up.  Others that require more.  I opted for a gel coat finish on both of mine because the middle road paint options were over $7000.

I think it comes down to dollars and cents.......plus how much time you want to spend doing yourself.  The first few years I did.
Bought a buffer and professional grades of compounds and waxes, spent about 10 hours a year waxing.  My cost about $30-$40 a year.  After about 5 years I got tired of doing myself and hired a detailer who did a great job yearly for $450-$550.  The "net" cost for a paint job on a 2351 is around $4500 (after factory applied discounts)  You could get a substantial amount of detailing done for that amount.  I sold my 12 year old boat last year and it had a show room Gel Coat finish.

Ernie H
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sailors35

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Re: Full Body Paint vs Lower Body Paint
« Reply #7 on: January 05, 2017, 10:49:21 pm »
Pretty much reflects my thinking.  Just sold my 27 year old Island Packet that spent all of her life in tropics and sub-tropics.  I too did all the waxing,buffing for a few years, not so much in the end.  always able to find pros who did a great job.  thanks for the reinforcement.  Seems like one can add a lot of goodies for the price differential.
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keelhauler

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Re: Full Body Paint vs Lower Body Paint
« Reply #8 on: January 06, 2017, 08:36:47 am »
There are people on both camps, Paint or no paint.
I have worked building fiberglass boats in the 70's.
Gel coat is much thicker the paint.
If you use a good wax twice a year, it will look like new 10 years later, from my experience. In the past 25 years I have had 3 motorhomes, all with no paint.
You will never get anyone to agree on this subject.
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John
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Ron Dittmer

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Re: Full Body Paint vs Lower Body Paint
« Reply #9 on: January 06, 2017, 09:31:19 am »
Quote from: keelhauler on January 06, 2017, 08:36:47 am
There are people on both camps, Paint or no paint.
I have worked building fiberglass boats in the 70's.
Gel coat is much thicker than paint.
If you use a good wax twice a year, it will look like new 10 years later, from my experience. In the past 25 years I have had 3 motorhomes, all with no paint.
You will never get anyone to agree on this subject.
You make a good point.  But the quality of the gel coat makes all the difference.  Every boat I ever saw was a lot better than the gel coat on our old Toyota/Mirage motor home.  I wouldn't know the quality of gel coat on PCs because ours is painted.
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jimmer

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Re: Full Body Paint vs Lower Body Paint
« Reply #10 on: January 08, 2017, 03:15:30 pm »
Sailor35,  if you happen to find a used, non full-paint,  that you really like,  but has some oxidation on the gel coat,  I  found a product that puts a shine on it like you wouldn't
believe.      Our used 2700 was this way,  and after trying various polishes and waxes to no significant improvement,  tried a  "coating"  that is supposed to last years.   
found at   marinestore.com  ,   it is a  2 step process and takes some elbow grease.    First you scrub off the oxidation and old wax with the supplied scrubber and compound,   then you apply
the coating in multiple layers with a special applicator that builds up a really nice shine.    Each coat only takes a couple minutes to dry since it is so thin. In taking it back to the PC factory this fall for a few minor things,  the guys there  were immediately asking what I had  done to it !     

To anyone else with  oxidized gel coat,    check it out  !
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