Laverne Has Earned Her Stripes - Part 1

The exterior of my motorhome is in excellent condition with minimal signs of wear and tear.  Over the past thirty years however she has faded a bit and her outside was in need of a little TLC.

 

The drivers side W is cracked and faded

The passenger side W was in really rough shape

Miles of taping and masking off

Nothing quite like watching paint dry - LOL!

Whoa!

And more Whoa!

I've done a lot to the outside with some minor repairs and improvements.  All of the storage bins have been lined in painted plywood.  I added a shelf to one of the bins where the generator used to be making it into the water and sewer line storage area.  The shelf keeps the two items separated and allows room for additional items like disinfectant wipes and gloves.  Two very important items to have on hand for handling the waste lines.

 

The door to the water heater and trim around the water fill were painted prior

The stripes on the door

A little before & after

And some more after

I had also painted the door to the water heater and the plate around the water filler which had rusted over time and looked a bit unsightly.  And I cleaned and spruced up the porch light so it not only looks better but the light is much brighter too.

 

Then it was time to get started on the biggest exterior changes and that is to refurbish her worn and faded striping.  I know that once I am done with this project it will really make her shine.  Her outside will match her insides and she will be absolutely gorgeous.  Even more than she already is.

 

I could leave it just like this as it was already a huge improvement

It took a lot of man hours, patience and several feet of painter's tape as well as a few cans of Rustoleum spray paint to get this job going.  But definitely worth the effort.  I got started the weekend prior to the 4th of July weekend and I put a lot of time into this those first two weekends.

 

But, I just had to do the Minnie Winnie

I decided the exterior changes would be subtle as I didn't want to make too drastic of a change.  I chose to do the brown stripes in Espresso which matched the original color spot on.  The rust orange stripes however got a makeover with a little pizzazz with Metallic Copper.  Boy does it ever look pretty when the sun hits it.  Just the right amount of sparkle.

 

I started with the passenger side.  The most time consuming part of the projected was to tape of the Minnie Winnie decal.  Three hours and two beers later I had it taped.  I went to bed that night and got up the next morning to spend less about two minutes to shoot it with a coat of Metallic Copper.  Waited ten and then gave it a second coat.  I came back after about fifteen minutes to remove all that taping and WOW!  Worth every second I invested.

 

With the passenger side stripes completed I have moved onto the front and rear but I'm going to save that for another day my friends.  And once the weather cools down a bit Laverne will get a bath and four coats of Turtle Wax as I complete each side.  She is also going to get something else, but again you will just have to wait to see what it is.  I'm super excited about it too!