How to Paint a Camper Van

After finishing the interior of our Sprinter Camper conversion last year, we hit the road and took it cross country. We had a great time visiting all the national forests and returned home in one piece. Well.... mostly in one piece. The trip took a toll on the Sprinter's paint and a bunch of it peeled off and more chipped off by the second.

The links below are all the materials we used in the build!

3M respirator: https://amzn.to/2TYvexF

Wagner Flexio 3000 Paint Sprayer: https://amzn.to/3AeWIyj

Random Orbital Sander: https://amzn.to/3Cjp7VP

220 Grit Sanding Pads: https://amzn.to/2VwkJlt

Plastic drop cloths: https://amzn.to/2Vxhmee

Painter’s Tape: https://amzn.to/3lCxdmC

Paint Strainer: https://amzn.to/3Cfqrct

Foam Brush: https://amzn.to/3yokabY

Mineral Spirits: https://amzn.to/3yrFWvC

Paint Mixing Cups: https://amzn.to/3AgAuw8

Shop Towels: https://amzn.to/3A71ZYS

Paint Stirring Sticks: https://amzn.to/3rXXE7B

Tack Cloths: https://amzn.to/3yrGzFu

Before we can get to the fun stuff, we had to take off everything we don’t want painted including the headlights, solar panels, and emblems.

In order to get the emblems off, we used our heat gun to soften the adhesive. Then we used some fishing line and shimmied it behind the emblem to cut through the adhesive.

Once the emblem is off, we used some acetone to remove the residue.

With all the ancillary stuff off, we used our random orbital sander with a 220 grit pad to scuff up the paint and smooth out all the areas where it was peeling. We also hand sanded the spots where the orbital couldn’t reach, making sure to get into all the nooks and crannies. To make sure surfaces were smooth, we ran our hand across the panel and made sure we couldn’t feel any bumps or transitions.

Then we gave the van a good scrub down to get rid of all the dust and debris.

Once the van was dry, we went over each panel with a tack cloth and used a white Rustoleum primer to cover any areas where we sanded down to the bare metal. This will ensure that the final paint coat can lay on evenly

Please note that we are keeping all the dents and dings on the van because 1. We’re not good at body work and 2. We think the dents give the van character...or at least that's what we tell ourselves.

We masked off the areas we didn’t want painted with plastic tarps and painter’s tape. We learned later on that overspray gets everywhere, so being meticulous at this stage saves a lot of headaches down the road…. Trust us. Since we are going for a two-tone paint scheme, we exposed the rocker panels and masked off the top portion of the van at the body line.

We used standard Rustoleum oil-based enamel instead of regular automotive paint (which was about 4 times the price!). We mixed gloss white with hunter green in a 3:1 ratio to make this awesome minty color!

To prep the mixed paint for the paint gun, we thinned it out with mineral spirits and added a catalyst hardener to help the finish become more durable and a little shinier like automotive single stage paint. Here we mixed 4 parts paint, to 3 parts reducer (you can use acetone, mineral spirits, or paint thinner) and 1 part hardener. The mixing cups have a variety of ratios printed on the side to help make sure you get the right proportions. Be sure to mix the solution really well so all the components are blended evenly. Always use a strainer when pouring into the paint gun container because you don’t want any contaminates clogging the gun.

This was our first time using an electric spray gun and we chose to use a budget friendly Wagner Flexio 3000. This one in particular is super convenient because it doesn’t rely on a separate air compressor, making it really simple to use. It has multiple adjustments for the spray pattern, and we dialed in the perfect settings on a piece of cardboard. We aimed for a 6 inch vertical pattern when spraying from 6 inches away from the surface without any paint running.

We laid the first coat down on the van. After waiting about two hours for it to set, we followed up with another heavy coat and called it a night.

With the minty green coat dried overnight, we taped and masked it off so we can paint the rest of the van in gloss white.

We started with the same 4:3:1 ratio of paint, reducer and hardener with gloss white and sprayed from the top down. After the first coat, we noticed the paint was slightly runny in some areas, so we switched up our second coat to have a 4:2:1 ratio.

We let the paint cure completely for a few days before removing the masking.

In total, we used a little more than half a gallon of gloss white paint, just a dollop of hunter green paint, ¾ gallon of mineral spirits and 3 pints of hardener to give the whole van a couple thick coats.

To finish off the project, we reinstalled everything that was removed

After all that – this is how the van turned out.

The minty green is the perfect pop of color and van looks fresh to death!