paint

[oleflier]

Can I get matching paint from Thor to repaint top of my front cap? I know it is fiberglass that has gel coat, but it has faded and exposed a repair . It looks like they sanded an area and then gel coated. I'm thinking that since buffing and waxing won't work I will paint that area and clear coat with UV protection clear. I also would like to find what they glued the many caps on. any products I find are clear but stick out like a sore thumb. A product that matches color would be great.

[blw2]

don't know the answer to your question about getting paint... my guess would be no, but a paint store or body shop could match it for you.

but I can say I tried any number of buffing/waxing/compund solutions. The acrylic floor polish thing looked great for a short while
Ultimately I did a sloppy and hurried "right before a rain storm" rattle can spray job as just a temporary trial just on the nose cone...after giving it a really hard barkeeper's friend scrubbing
sprayed with this stuff
https://www.autozone.com/paint-and-b...B&gclsrc=aw.ds

a couple years later it still looks passable. Not awesome maybe but certainly passable.... and I'm happy considering how horrible it looked before. I have been meaning to do the rest of the coach but and do a better job of it, but haven't had the time.... mine really looking bad

[ducksface]

Take one of your side bin doors to the auto paint place.
They'll sell you a matched paint in an 11 to 16 Oz spray can with an excellent spray nozzle.
Fifty bucks ish.
But
By the time you buy the prep and post stuff, climb on a ladder, risk leaning into the work while on a ladder, all the prep time, the post cure, the damn bugs that inevitably land on your paint, finding an indoor place to do it where overspray won't REALLY REALLY chap your butt, it'll be $300+- bucks more to have a good job done at a professional shop.


If you insist on the do it yourself route:
Go to YouTube, learn, and then practice on something less obtrusive than the cap.

Or

Paint that cap semiflat black or a contrasting color.

And

Go to a big box store with your side bin door and order a custom mixed small can of paint.

Latex paint when mixed with latex caulk makes caulk the color of the paint.

We learned that from our counter top installer who mixed our paint with caulk for an unseeable joint. I've done it 20 times since.

[lwmcguire]

Most of the Thor's come with touch up bottles that have the paint codes. They can also give you the paint codes and you can then order or have the paint mixed locally.

[16ACE27]

Originally Posted by lwmcguire

Most of the Thor's come with touch up bottles that have the paint codes. They can also give you the paint codes and you can then order or have the paint mixed locally.

"Most"?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQJzK3QQl4k

[lwmcguire]

Mine have as did the Heartland products

Maybe the entry level don't but they sure can get the codes from Thor or from the data sheet for the build

[ducksface]

Originally Posted by lwmcguire

Mine have as did the Heartland products

Maybe the entry level don't but they sure can get the codes from Thor or from the data sheet for the build

A paint code on faded paint is no better than any near color available at a box store spray can.
The thread is about fading, not touch up on a new vehicle.

Paint fades. Codes do not account for it.

[lwmcguire]

Originally Posted by ducksface

A paint code on faded paint is no better than any near color available at a box store spray can.

The thread is about fading, not touch up on a new vehicle.



Paint fades. Codes do not account for it.

The OP started of with can I get matching paint?

Please read it again

[ducksface]

Originally Posted by lwmcguire

The OP started of with can I get matching paint?

Please read it again

And you can't get it from a paint code.
I am not absolutely certain the whole rest of the vehicle has been parked inside a dark room with just its forehead sticking out allowing only the cap to fade. The color is faded all about the vehicle is what logic dictates.

It's why you take a panel in to a paint mixer to be analyzed as to the real color of the vehicle as it now sits many years later.

The difference between taking a paint code to the mixer or a panel to the mixer is:
The panel is the correct aged color and the code is what left the factory.

Once again I'm going to suggest a professional, someone who won't try code paint on an old vehicle.

[lwmcguire]

Originally Posted by ducksface

And you can't get it from a paint code.
I am not absolutely certain the whole rest of the vehicle has been parked inside a dark room with just its forehead sticking out allowing only the cap to fade. The color is faded all about the vehicle is what logic dictates.

It's why you take a panel in to a paint mixer to be analyzed as to the real color of the vehicle as it now sits many years later.

The difference between taking a paint code to the mixer or a panel to the mixer is:
The panel is the correct aged color and the code is what left the factory.

Once again I'm going to suggest a professional, someone who won't try code paint on an old vehicle.

Well I actually agree with you however my preferred way in the past for vehicles was to start with the original paint and tweak it from there

Either way will get you there but I didn't have the capability of taking a panel as at the time it was to far and sometimes not possible to easily get a panel so therefore I started with original and mixed from there

[ducksface]

You're absolutely correct if the ability and means are yours.

The op and all the 10,000:1 others have to be assumed to not have the ability nor compounds to succeed.

If the op had had the abilities he wouldn't have asked the question.

[16ACE27]

Originally Posted by lwmcguire

Mine have as did the Heartland products

Maybe the entry level don't but they sure can get the codes from Thor or from the data sheet for the build

But "most" Thor RVs don't have paint; they have standard color panels with vinyl graphics applied. Even the front and rear fiberglass caps are not painted, they have colored gelcoat, which the OP acknowledged.

[BASSMAN]

I took one of my side compartment doors in to a auto/body paint supplier and they scanned it and mixed me a pint of polyurethane to match, most places I visited wanted me to leave the door and they wanted it for a week and do a custom color match and wanted $75.00 for the service, I tried to get the dealer to sell me a pint and they said they are not allowed to sell mixed paint over the counter, I think I would take it to a painter if I had to re paint the entire cap, my project was just a couple of small vents I installed on the door of the cabinet I installed my inverter in.

[MLP]

Most RV body repair shops use paint to match the gel coat and do not bother the color gel coat the repair. My SOB fifth wheel needed repair after my neighbors car rolled into it. They fixed the J panel and fiberglass and used matching paint for the finish. Still looked good three years later.

[Phil Saran]

Yes you can contact customer relations (at least at Keystone) by email and they will
provide the paint codes and you can ask about the paint company they use who will
sell you touch up paint or gallons. Not cheap, but it is an option.

I did go the route of touch up paint and it was still a bit pricy, and the gallon paint
is kind of expensive too with shipping.

When I got the paint codes I went to a auto paint supply store and they could not
match it at all.

[lwmcguire]

Originally Posted by 16ACE27

But "most" Thor RVs don't have paint; they have standard color panels with vinyl graphics applied. Even the front and rear fiberglass caps are not painted, they have colored gelcoat, which the OP acknowledged.

All the Thor's I have had were painted very well with Sikkens paint. Really never been around anything but the Tuscany and Venetians so wasn't aware of the difference

For the money Thor actually has some of the nicest painted rigs out there

[Kenosfan]

Don’t dare paint the fiberglass!
Use the following. You can purchase the kit from Amazon. Polly prep, Polly Glow it’s for RVs and Boats. You first clean it with the prep easy to do. Next you apply five coats of the glow. Very easy to do. You put on a even thin coat on and it drys fast then put one coat on after another if you don’t have time to do all coats pickup we’re you left on the next day. It will look new. Every year afterwards you put one coat on if it looks faded you can put the second coat on. I
Did and older A class and it looked like a new one. The kit is around &80.00.money well spent.

[oleflier]

Thanks for your experience. I might try buff and seal first. As for pros I have painted cars before but newest paints are a different procedure. Almost like going back to lacquer,sand and clear.That shows how long ago i started. I was part time over many years, and painted my own several times. Trying to figure out where to set up to reach is daunting at least.

[BDanner]

I am getting ready to have a vinyl wrap applied on the nose of a 2017 Compass. Probably the worst fiberglass gel coating I have seen. The cost is $350 for plain white and upwards of $450 or more for a printed graphic design picking up the factory graphic colors. We have several really great auto wrap garages here in Northern Virginia Maryland area.

[ducksface]

Originally Posted by BDanner

I am getting ready to have a vinyl wrap applied on the nose of a 2017 Compass. Probably the worst fiberglass gel coating I have seen. The cost is $350 for plain white and upwards of $450 or more for a printed graphic design picking up the factory graphic colors. We have several really great auto wrap garages here in Northern Virginia Maryland area.

Dammit!
I do parts Wraps, faux carbon fiber parts, dash parts, mirror housings, that sort of thing, never anything big like a hood or anything.
I also do some hydrographic printing, handles, housings phone covers, knobs.

I didn't even begin to think suggesting a wrap.
It's a perfect 4 to 10 year solution to the problem.
Maybe half as expensive as professional paint.