[qcj]

I'm with Steve. Xtreme in Nacogdoches does great work. They also do all the painting for new Outlaw Prevost. They are busy but not cheap and do a first class job. Probably looking at $20,000.00, but you will be proud of the job. Take a photo of your coach and tell him the length and e-mail it to him for a quote. James Stalling is the owner.

[Retro]

Thank you, I will contact them. I was thinking of leaving it in texas or arizona next winter so that might work out well. If anyone else has any ideas please chime in!

[HoosierDaddy]

Steve mentioned Precision Painting. They are one of the shops in my area that I had in mind. There are others. I can get contact information if you decide to go 600 miles...
If there is ANY corrosion or bubbles under the paint showing up You may need to replace the aluminum. It may be a result of electrolysis caused by the aluminum coming in contact with the steel under-structure.
Another issue I have seen on a repaint is bubbles appearing at the joints where the aluminum siding joins. The new paint "bridges" the gap between the two pieces then when the siding expands the paint loosens over the joint. I'm not sure how to avoid this issue. I would be interested in others observations /solutions to this issue.

[qcj]

I was looking a 2000 Prevost the other day at xtreme and I was surprised that stainless does the same thing. I guess electrolysis happens when any metal is attached to a different metal. I'm having problem with one of my mirror brackets. James at xtreme told me it would be cheaper to buy a new mirror than have that one repainted. He said preparation for painting would be expensive. What Co. makes our mirrors? and I was wandering if maybe just buying the bracket or arm attached to the coach. I have seen a lot of Newells and Foretravels with the same problem, both painted and unpainted. Need to find a place we can put some sacrificial anodes on these coaches.

[Retro]

Thanks Dean, I could drive it that far, I plan on travelling all over with it and we can fly to where it is from canada.
I didnt notice any bubbling or oxidization on the body of this one. My 77 has some and my 87 had a little bit. I think the steel underneath gets some rust and it reacts with the aluminum. They did put a strip of rubber or something between when the built them, maybe wears through or breaks down over time.
  In that case it might be easier just to reskin rather than sand and repair, maybe better and less labour too. One could por15 the inner frame and put new rubber, or even glue the sheets on like they do at newell with no rivets.
If i do decide to change the front and lower the headlights the bumber mounts would have to get cut off and the front would get reskinned anyway, Good point!!

[rheavn]

Chappell,
The mirrors are from Ramco Engineering.

http://www.ramco-eng.com/

[Ozarkguy]

Ok here's my 2 cents worth. I've been in aviation going on 45 years now and am pretty familiar with aluminum structures. A sand n paint will give a few years. The biggest issue is prep work. Hard to get all the seam lines and rivets clean. Fillform corrosion can be preped if not too bad. The best way is strip n paint with a good wash primer. That will last. Moisture is the coaches biggest enemy. Newell sprayed foam in the structure. And it's stuck pretty good to the skin a reskin might be a tough road. The cap is different, no foam so not to big a deal to replace a skin. You would want to check all the rivets, look for loose, missing or working (black residue) around the rivet.. Fix or replace as necessary. Hopefully you do not have corrosion from dissimilar metal. That is a tuffy.

I loved the classics also, had watermelon lights for clearance lights. http://www.raneystruckparts.com/led-cab-lights/. Now they make them in LED. this place also has some interesting headlights some LED also.

It's worth a few extra $$$ to have done correct. Good luck...

Chappell they make an electronic anode. Used for boats. Smaller versions for autos.

[HoosierDaddy]

https://www.facebook.com/FoxRvInc?rf=125548257499651
I know Larry Fox. He travels the country doing RV appraisals and estimates for the insurance industry. I've seen his work and it is great. Good People



https://www.facebook.com/pages/Precision...2645300413 I have been to Precision Painting. What I've seen from there looks great . I don't know much about them otherwise.

There are others in this area. You can google most of them. These and the Montoya Body Shop mentioned in the previous post are the only ones that I have seen work from.

[77newell]

Jimmy: just for clarification. I started throwing wrenches at airplanes in 1970, I'm too old to figure out how long ago that was. It was long enough ago that I flew in the exact DC-3 that's hanging from the ceiling of the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan.

Anyway, the major source of aluminum corrosion on the early vintage Newells (my 77 coach for example) was that from the floor on down the aluminum skin was laid over over a steel structure. Around the wheel wells it was laid over the steel sheet making up the wheel well. Originally there was a polyethylene sheet separating the steel and aluminum, but over the years the sheet deteriorated and it was possible for moisture and road salt to wick into the gap between the two and pinholes and other problems result. The skin is easy to replace because it is held in place by screws only along the length of the top and bottom behind trim strips. There are no other fasteners. In later years, or when doing a rehab, Newell went with the double sided sticky foam tape to hold the lower skin in place. That is probably a more secure and durable approach.

From the floor up over the top is an aluminum structure and aluminum skin with foam insulation behind the skin. If a leak occurs and the foam holds water that would not be good as you say. The lower skins are an entirely different situation.

[Ozarkguy]

Sounds we started our aviation disease about the same time. Never had to replace any skins luckily just a bunch of plywood on the floors, under the windows and under the headliner I did have to replace a good quantity of rivets though. My steel structure was in good shape except for the wet bay.