Respray, keeping the value and decals - advice please.

[LittleMissSunshine]

Our van heads off for some mm magic next week. It is an Autohomes Komet - and well we really can't decide about the respray.

We want it to hold its value - so were thinking either white again and some decals, but we keep being tempted by a sort of pale coffee colour half way then white above. Is this a bad move?

Decals - cannot find a Komet set anywhere, if we did want to go white with original komet stickers/stripes as they are now can anyone tell me how to go about getting them - are they a nightmare to stick? Should we just go for plain stripes?

Totally new to this respray malarkey so all ideas and advice gratefully received, especially about the decals.

Thanks, Helen x

[BOXY]

Any sign shop should be able to lazer cut vinyl stickers of anything you can find a digital image of. I got the stickers for my bike by scaling up a photograph of the bike with the stripes & lettering photo-shoped on. I think they cost about £30 for everything.

[Silky]

(Girly answer here...) I'd go for the coffee colour. A friend has just had her van (Ringo's old van) sprayed in a vanilla shade and it looks fabulous, retro but more of a luxury feel than pure white. Kev's is another example, I can't imagine it would look anywhere near as nice in white.

[big red bus]

personally the stickers decals dont add value or detract value after paint. i have yet to seee a van where i like the decals. they make a new paint job look dated. colour is personal choice. when i had mine painted i debadged the back end. not to every ones taste but i like the clean look. any good with photoshop to see what it wiuld look like

[nevill3]

Looks good in coffee

[nevill3]

Or purple

[LittleMissSunshine]

Haha! Those photos are spooky! How did you do that?

We like the idea of a cream/vanilla/coffee colour up to top of lights area, then a stripe then white.

I do love the colour of Kev's van too.

Thanks for advice about getting graphics - I am worried I'll get a wonk when I stick on the long stripe - is it easy enough? Is there a trick to it?

Sorry for all the questions !

[kevtherev]

If you keep to a VW colour the van will look right.
The VW colour catalogue is huge..
Two tone paint is a great look.. but the darker shade must be on the bottom for aesthetic reasons in my opinion...otherwise the van will look top heavy.
using the vans natural swage lines gives it a factory look, forcing swage lines that aren't there on a panel van is a disaaarster (for me).

take my van as it was, way back... in the past
Autosleeper tried to invent lines and it looked wrong



See? the lines are lowering the swage, thinning the van.
the high top being white just makes the whole thing look unconnected... yuk!!

so I changed it, and tried to tie the van and high top together, put back the vans handsome lines.
By part painting the high top it stopped looking so high and tied it in!
Adding the white to the window lines tied the top to the bottom and enhanced the center lines lifting it slightly
putting a black stripe through the swage and up into the vent further tied the top in and shortened the van.
Finally to balance it all out I gave carol some white socks.



even the back had a little make over, The panel with the plate and lights was enhanced with white.



It's not the best paint design, but it's mine, and it's unique ..I used photoshop to design it, and handed the picture to the painter... he copied it to the letter... unfortunately too close, he mixed the colour himself to match the photo..which wasn't a VW colour...luckily I liked it.
Sadly as a footnote it all got wiped away during Carols respray and renovation.
Now she's a blank canvass again

[LittleMissSunshine]

Yes, I really like your choices, does the hitop stay the same shade and finish?


What are your plans now for your restored van?

[kevtherev]

Yes, I really like your choices, does the hitop stay the same shade and finish?


What are your plans now for your restored van?

Thanks
Since the respray ALL the old non VW colour of beige was removed, only the white on the upper part of the high top remains untouched, I can now touch up without any worry of colour match.
The van will be sent in to a local spray booth for the white insets and black stripe to be re applied...
I've been playing around on photoshop, and the starsky & hutch black stripe will not be making a come back, so the white inset can be extended to fill the panel, lengthening the van.

good luck by the way, moving away from a white van is a bold and brave move, if you go ahead, and your VW colour choice is tasteful, in keeping with the van, there's no reason why it won't make your camper MORE attractive to buyers.

The two tone look is SO volkswagen, and T25's carry it off very well, they also lend themselves to more modern designs and VW colours.

[Titus A Duxass]

Kev,
I think your colour scheme is one of the classiest around.
I almost went back to that colour when I saw yours (I did go for the white wheels though).

I stayed with VW colours but took the modern route.

[kevtherev]

simple and modern, perfect balance of colours, any more white and it would be OTT



White sox ...is always a nice finishing touch... keeps it in the 80's
Who says our vans are plain and ugly?? ..just look at that picture..nuff said

[LittleMissSunshine]

I am definately swaying towards a colour perhaps a shade lighter than yours Kev, into the hightop, to stop just above the window. Then some solid stripe colour further down, wonder if dark brown would look ok?

We are going to replace the VW circles on the bottom of the doors but probably not the komet ones. Thanks everyone for the replies, really appreciated.

[kevtherev]

Complimentary colours are fun to experiment with.
Take chocolate brown, burgundy, plum, royal blue, airforce blue, dark red for instance, put it with an ice cream colour and it looks yum, they enhance each others hue.
Put them with white and it looks wrong too dark and lonesome, white or black should be a one block colour or a highlight, never a secondary.
Primary colours never mix, red and green blue and red, red and green..
Creamy pastels are another VW trademark, there are dozens to choose from all the way back to the fifties.
One of my favourites is a sage green with a swage up cream top, pop in a strawberry pin stripe ... a classic.
The off white family, loves coffee and creams, with sage green or strawberry pin stripe.

VW didn't use chrome on the van, adding it is a mistake unless you put a lot more on, The t25 "chrome" is black

just my opinions, ain't nothing set in stone.
I see a lot of vans at VW shows and those that stand out for me is the clever use of colour, the paint job quality doesn't make me go ooooh.. the colour choice and design does.

[LittleMissSunshine]

You should charge commission and set yourself up as a colour guru! Seriously though, will be coffee and cream for us I think. We might look like a latte though! Cream top to hightop and coffee body, with a mid-brown stripe. Am off to scour the VW colour charts !