Painting Your Skoolie Bus Conversion
Painting the exterior of your skoolie is the job everyone puts off until last. By that time, the budget is blown and you’re exhausted.
If the $10k professional paint job quotes are out of the question, you’ll be doing the work yourself. It must be done, so grit your teeth and get a move on grinding and sanding, patching and taping. Bummer! Is there anything to look forward to in this laborious process?
Yes, in fact, there is! This is your chance to let your creative spirit out with no holds barred. There are no rules except that it can’t stay yellow, and as far as artistic expression is concerned, the sky is the limit!
Do I have to paint my school bus conversion?
The answer in most states is, “yes.” You will also need to remove the stop signal arm and some specific lights.
“Sec. 12-804. Other vehicles – Color, stop signal arm and identification. No vehicle other than a school bus shall be identified with the sign “SCHOOL BUS”, shall be equipped with a stop signal arm, shall be equipped with a strobe lamp or shall be equipped with a warning lamp system as described in Section 12-805 of this Act. No commuter van or bus other than a school bus shall be painted national school bus glossy yellow or a color that closely resembles national school bus glossy yellow.”
Painting the Skoolie Roof
Painting the roof is the easy part. After sanding off the rust and patching the holes, the function of the paint is to create a strong, waterproof membrane. There are a few good choices for the paint, and it will be white, maybe silver, to reflect the sun’s heat.
Choose an Elastomeric Roof Coating. Henry® 587 100% Acrylic Dura-Brite™ White Elastomeric Roof Coating , shown here, is the one most-often recommended because it’s usually the least expensive. It works great. Use a paint roller and do at least two solid coats. Three coats would be better. It needs four hours dry time between coats. No primer needed.
I recommend keeping the roof shaded, or it will dry too fast and burn in the sun. If it rains between coats, make sure the roof is completely dry before the next coat.
When Painting Your Skoolie, Take Your Time and Use Your Imagination
Guatemala “Chicken Bus” Photo by @pizote.adventures used with permission.
Now comes the fun part! Okay, not really. By this time you’re tired and dirty, and ready to be done. But this is the part everyone will see, the visual that creates that magic first impression. Or not.
Taping off the windows, lights, and trim is tedious, labor intensive work. But you know if you do a good job, it will look great later.
The pictures I’m posting here are old American school buses used in Guatemala and other South American countries as public transportation. Yes, these are gaudy and garish capable of triggering flashbacks to our hippie days, but they show real imagination.
The paint job, shiny chrome bumpers, and wheel covers show the owner’s pride in his rig. This is your chance to create a work of art. Keep in mind that skoolies aren’t necessarily welcome in RV parks and tiny house neighborhoods because of their appearance.
The goal in many of the YouTube® videos is to cover the yellow as cheaply as possible and, of course, prevent rust. We spend more of our time inside our bus and it needs to be a comfortable and usable living space first, because that’s what we see the most. But think about what your neighbors will see.
Why old skoolies are frequently prohibited from RV parks
In many cases, RV parks have prohibitive regulations against skoolies because, despite being painted, they still look like old school buses.
This bus was on display at a tiny house convention I attended. The interior was really nice. The outside is painted and there are no rust spots showing. But- it’s boring.
Decorative additions don’t have to be difficult or expensive
I understand the economics of the skoolie clan. If you have a safe, warm place for your family, you’re good. But if it’s at all feasible, put some spark and imagination into it. Add a glimmer of color, a stripe, anything.
It really doesn’t cost a lot to jazz up the paint job a little. Use high-gloss paint instead of a flat finish. Maybe even add some gold flecks. Pick several bright colors and do a pattern. Do a final clear finish coat to add depth.
Your bus is a blank slate. Make it a work of art.
No Painting skills?
This nice 80″ wide x 20″ high graphic (shown on the right) would jazz up the side of that bus nicely. No painting skills needed. It’s reasonably priced on Amazon. This scene comes in several sizes and there are a lot of other nice scenes available as well. Click on image to see details.
Add some racing stripes
These are inexpensive, really easy to put on, and they stick forever. There are dozens of styles, all made of durable vinyl. Click on image to learn more.
Some other ideas to add the customized look
Another way to add a custom flare is Chrome Wheel Covers. You can get these from Amazon.
Underglow Lighting
LED Underglow Lights give off a warm light and also help keep mice away. They’re not expensive, use very little power, and look really nice when you’re sitting outside at night.
Add some awesomeness with a shiny chrome grille
Grilles are easy to replace, and a shiny chrome grille adds a touch of awesomeness.
Click on the image to explore the options. They run between $200-$300*.
Recommended Paint for Your Skoolie Project
Urethane paints are catalyzed systems, offering a premium finish with exceptional durability that far surpasses enamel-based systems. Acrylic Urethane Single Stage Color is a two-component acrylic urethane topcoat system for properly prepared and/or primed metal surfaces.
Best Paint Sprayer for Your Skoolie Project
These paints need to be applied with a paint sprayer. With this 3M sprayer, the paint never passes through the spray gun body. Which means: no more paint gunking up internal components, no more disassembling your spray gun or soaking in solvent, no more cross-contamination, putting your job at risk. Engineered from an impact-resistant composite material reinforced with stainless steel, 3M™ Performance Spray Gun is the lightest spray gun in the industry — all while maintaining the power and performance that professional painters expect.
For More Information about skoolies
Visit my page about Converting A School Bus for more information.
Visit this Blog about the Guatemala Chicken buses
Leave a picture of your bus and a comment below.
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