Back in January 2020, we purchased a Nissan Caravan from Yahoo Auction with the plan to turn it into a camper van. Without any doubts, one of the top modifications we wanted to make to the van was change the exterior colour. Most Nissan Caravans are either black or white and we wanted our van to stand out and look unique.
We looked into paying a garage to paint the vehicle for us, but it seemed quite expensive so we decided to do it ourselves! We researched online how to paint a camper van and purchased all the materials we needed.
On the day of painting, we started very early and with two of us working on it, we managed to finish it by the time the sun went down. As you can see in the images, we did not paint the roof since we would be adding solar panels there and the colour would be difficult to see under the solar panels.
Please note, that if you also plan on painting the roof, the whole process might take more than one day.
We had originally planned to paint our camper van exterior blue but loved the “tye-die” or “clouds” effect that was created during the painting process so we decided to leave it looking like that. Our van is very unique and that is what we love about it – no one else will have the same design!
In this blog post, I will share the steps required if you want to paint a camper van exterior, the products you will need and the total cost.
How To Paint A Camper Van Step-By-Step Guide
Step 1: Sanding (Number 600)
The first thing you need to do is use black sandpaper for metal to remove the current colour from the areas you plan on painting. We did two rounds of sanding using number 600 and 1000.
We did our first round of sanding using number 600. It’s easier if you have a sandpaper block and a bucket of water. The sandpaper needs to be wet in order to remove the paint from the van exterior.
The next thing you need to do is wash the camper van exterior with car shampoo to remove all the dust and paint you just sanded. We used a cheap car shampoo and sponge and then rinsed the entire van with water.
After washing the van, you will need to sand the vehicle again using number 1000 sandpaper. Number 1000 is not as coarse as number 600 so it will make it smooth and prepare the metal for being painted.
You need to wash the van exterior again using car shampoo and a sponge to remove all the dust and paint you just sanded.
This is the most time consuming part of painting a vehicle. We used newspaper and masking tape to cover all the areas we didn’t want to paint such as the window, the wheels and mirrors.
You will need a lot of newspaper and masking tape so it is better to prepare more than you think you might need. We ran out of masking tape twice and had to go and buy more which wasted time.
Step 6: Silicone Off Spray
Once all the masking tape was applied, we used “silicone off” spray to remove all oil residue from the vehicle. We required 2 cans of this spray and it dried very quickly so we didn’t need to wait before moving onto the next step.
Primer is really important as it is basically the base coat for your paint and helps the paint stick better. We applied 2 coats of primer to the van which also dried very quickly.
We used paint from the brand Asahipen since we had heard good things about their paint quality. It’s recommended to hold the paint can around 50cm from the vehicle and spray a light coat. You will need to do around 3 or 4 coats of paint so only a light application is required each time. Each time you add another coat of paint, the colour will become darker and the original colour will start to disappear.
Be careful not to add to much paint at one time since this will cause the paint to start dripping and it will look terrible. We only required 3 cans for our vehicle, however if you are planning to paint the whole vehicle one colour, it’s best to buy more than you might need since it’s very annoying to run out!
If you have any problems with your painting and there are any drips or areas that are not smooth, you can do some more sanding to fix the mistakes. This step is optional and we did not do this step since we did not encounter any problems with our paint.
We applied clear paint to finish the paint job with a shine and stop the paint from chipping. We used 1 can of clear paint and it dried very quickly.
This is much faster than applying the masking tape! There will likely be a lot of waste so it is better to prepare some garbage bags where you can throw all the waste.
One of the final steps after removing the masking tape is to apply compound. This is basically a polish and is used to clean and shine the vehicle.
It also removes any imperfections on the vehicle’s surface and blends the new and old paint together. We used a compound sponge to apply the compound to the vehicle.
After applying the compound we wiped down the vehicle with microfibre cloths to remove any excess compound and leave the car with a nice shine.
The whole process of painting the camper van exterior took two of us 9 hours to complete and was very hard work! We were both so exhausted by the end of the day.
We will also share some tips and lessons from our experience that will hopefully help you if you are planning to paint your own vehicle.
- Make sure you have enough materials and don’t run out during the day since it’s so annoying if you need to return to the home center mid-job!
- We bought spray cans on amazon but we ordered 20 cans and only ended up using 3 cans. We tried to return the extra 17 cans of paint but amazon said it was not possible to return them since spray cans are considered dangerous goods. In the end, we contacted the seller directly and managed to return the cans so it worked out ok. However, please be careful of this if you plan on ordering excess materials online!
- Paint your vehicle outside or in a very clean garage if possible. If there is dust flying around then it might stick to the vehicle while you are painting and it will look terrible.
- Try not to paint your vehicle after dark or in a place that is not well-lit. It will be harder to see what you are doing and the paint might look ok when you apply it but once you see it in daylight, you will notice some mistakes.
How Much Did It Cost To Paint A Camper Van?
Sandpaper: ¥330
Sandpaper Block: ¥110
Car Shampoo: ¥110
Sponge: ¥110
Silicone Off Spray: ¥721 x 2 = ¥1442
Primer: ¥1322 x 2 = ¥2644
Paint: ¥721 x 3 = ¥2163
Clear Paint: ¥862
Compound: ¥799
Compound Sponge: ¥386
Masking Tape: ¥110 x 6 = ¥660
Microfibre Cloth: ¥110
TOTAL: ¥9726
This was much cheaper than paying a car shop to paint the vehicle so we were very satisfied with the total cost and the end result!
We hope this blog was helpful for you if you are planning to paint a camper van.
Check out the video below which shows the whole process of painting a camper van.
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