With such a large area to work with,  the paint was sprayed from left to right in the direction of top to bottom.

    The first thing we had to do was drill out all the old rivets and then feather edge all the peeling paint around the rivets. We then replaced the rivets with new ones as needed. This all had to be done before we could begin to apply base coat to our project. In total we used over 500 rivets to regain the structural integrity of the bus. I used a Chicago Pneumatic CP-883 rivet gun to accomplish this.
Sand and polish
    Then we sanded the whole thing down with 320-grit sandpaper. The front and rear of the bus was fiberglass, so I grinded these areas down with 24-grit to remove all the heavy cracking. I came back and feather edged with 80-grit sandpaper and then came back with some heavy coats of PCL Poly Primer for the more severely damaged areas.
    Then we repaired all the dents and smoothed out the surface with Dura Glass. We used poly putty to fill in all the cracks. After that, the crew masked off the bus and I shot the repaired areas with PCL Poly Primer. Because the bus itself was made of aluminum, we used House of Kolor’s KC20 Post Sanding Cleaner, KD2000 Direct to Metal Primer (one coat gray), and Ko-Seal II Primer Sealer (two coats). It’s always a good idea to use products made specifically for a job.
    We polished the entire aluminum paneling with wool pads and medium compound to bring it back to a lustrous shine. I

Custom-fabricated metal accents were made using a plasma cutter and added to the vents of the bus.

started out by painting the roof black. The air conditioning covers were painted black and airbrushed by Pendelton in the spray booth. The poly primer was blocked with 80, 150, and then finally 400-grit sandpaper; and a black guide coat was used between grits. With the bus primed and masked, block sanded, and prepped for spraying, we were ready to start with our paint job and graphics.
Paint and graphics
    Of course, I started with some black sealer and then gave the bus two coats of House of Color black basecoat. With such a large area to paint, I had to change my usual system for spraying. I decided the plan was to spray from left to right going from top to bottom. I also overlapped about 6-inches to prevent as much dry area as possible. In total, I sprayed about three coats of black base on the bus. The normal spray booth technique was used on the rest of the parts that were broken down.
Steel spiders and flames
    On this project we added a lot of custom-fabricated metal accents, including spiders and flames cut from steel using a plasma cutter. We then prepped them, painted them black, and attached them to the vents on the sides of the bus. We also used our Rich Evans Designs Truck Dubs wheel covers. Pendelton and the airbrush team at Huntington Beach Bodyworks then went to work on the artwork.
    Pendelton did a freehand airbrush rendering of skeletons, a portrait of his wife, and various tattoo style pieces along the sides of the bus. Johnny Sotelo used our vinyl plotter to create a stencil of the “Rich Evans Designs” logo so Terry Stephens could airbrush it onto the rear of the bus.
    Stephens then came in and applied the airbrushed shadows and highlights. Whenever there is any airbrushing that needs to be done, the only paint we tend to use is House of Kolor. Their pigments have a finer grind than most other finishes and therefore flow better through a small airbrush.
Peeling off the masking
    After the airbrushed shadows and highlights were applied, we peeled off the masking material that was used to blanket the bus. Be sure to peel only the paper masking and leave any vinyl masking until the end. Masking should be peeled off slowly and at a sharp angle away from the graphics. This helps to prevent lifting of the graphics. The best way is to use an X-ACTO knife with both hands while taking care not to poke the paint.
    We then wiped down and tacked the bus and made sure to leave clean edges on the graphics. This wasn’t that hard because almost all the artwork was completely freehand. We made sure to pre-kleano and remove any fingerprints, oils, and glue residue that may have been left behind by the vinyl and/or masking.