110328 Belmont Paint Shop

Suz took the morning off, so I headed over to the Belmont paint shop at 6:45 am to watch the preparation for, and beginning of, the painting process on the Bus. When I arrived, the coach was still in the sanding shop getting its final go over. By 8:00 it had arrived in the queue to enter into the paint shop, which happened at 8:45. Once inside, the cleaning process and initial taping of the windows, hardware and roof (which does not get painted) began.

By 1o:15, the coach was fully preped and ready to enter the first paint booth where the base coat of "Sahara Gold" would be applied. The paint crew takes a variable lunch break which depends on when they finish painting a coach (usually somewhere between 10 and 10:30). Then the paint crew works while the rest of the workers take their lunch break from 11:30 to 12.

The paint crew returned from lunch at 10:45 and the coach was rolled into the paint booth. The first step was to wipe the coach down with tacky cloths to remove any residual dust. Then the 4-man crew starts the spraying: 2 on the ground and two on moving lifts to cover the high sides, front and back.

I left to pick up Suz for lunch at 11:15 and the painting had just commenced. When Suz and I arrived back at the plant at 12:00, the base coat painting was complete and the coach was in the drying process. At 12:30, the coach rolled out of the booth and a 6 person crew began taping for the second and third coats. The taping process is very interesting. The stencils are on long rolls just over three feet high that extend the full length of the coach. Three rolls are required to cover each side, two for the front and back. The crew applies the middle stencil, smoothes it with squeegees, and removes the backing. then the upper and lower stencils are applied in the same manner. The final result is a completely stenciled coach, which after fine detailing, is ready for the second and third coats.

At quitting time (2:30 pm), the coach had been almost fully stenciled, with the only remaining part the stenciling of the slide walls. The coach will then await its turn in the second paint booth. That will happen tomorrow morning between 7 to 7:30 am. I will be there as usual! Until then, Cheers from John, Suz and Dixie the Wonderdog!

P.S. As usual, the pictures for thsi phase are to be found at our Picasa web album, the URL for which is https://picasaweb.google.com/john.evansesp/110321BuildingTheBus#