RePaint suggestions in Arizona

[Dwight Wilson]

Hi Folks, My wife and I are hoping to be able to head south again  this winter and are planning to be in the Tucson and Yuma area in January/February. I plan to remove the dull Diamond Shield and would like to have the front cap and entry door re-painted while we are south and am wondering if any of you has had any experiences (good and bad) with body shops in those areas? Can anyone recommend a shop? Any idea of what I am looking at for cost?
Thanks for any advice, and Happy Trails everyone.
Dwight

[Bryan Beamon]

Dwight, see attached for paint ideas in mexico.

[Bill Englund]

Olstrom Custom Coach can do the paint work your are looking for, and they are located in Tucson. You can check out their web site for more info.
https://www.olstromcc.com
I will qualify this recommendation as its been a couple of years since i last had service work done there. So, I don't know if the excellent painter they had is still there.

[Laurence Mitchell]

We live in Tucson and have used Eric and his team at Olstrom for body work in the past and they are good and book solid if you don't have an appointment. Randy is the painter and has done great work on our current unit which is our 2007 Beaver Marquis. We have also had a whole rig painted in Rocky Point (2000 Beaver Marquis) and it's a 21 day process.  DO NOT drop off your RV or it will take longer than 21 days.  I was quoted $23k plus to have my unit painted in the states and $7k in Mexico.  There is something on IRV2 about this.   
Hope this helps.

Mitch.

Olstrom Custom Coach can do the paint work your are looking for, and they are located in Tucson. You can check out their web site for more info.
https://www.olstromcc.com
I will qualify this recommendation as its been a couple of years since i last had service work done there. So, I don't know if the excellent painter they had is still there.

[Neal E Weinmann]

FWIW - When I personally removed the clear mask off my ‘05 Monterey a few years ago (a tediously slow 30 hr job), I found the paint underneath was in overall great condition. Only a few small spots where the mask was dinged by road debris might have required attention if desired. I chose to leave the area as is. That said, the mask was not tagged as Diamond Shield, so perhaps it was 3M. Either way it was crazed and looked a cracked and hazy mess, but it came off without damaging the paint.

[Dwight Wilson]

Thanks for the suggestions folks. I am a bit reluctant to travel into Mexico until this Covid thing is better controlled. I have sent an email to Olstrom with some pictures. I am going to scrape off the Diamond Shield in advance as I have obtained the recommended plastic chisel/scrapers, and some glue remover . There are a couple of youtube videos( of course ) that provide some instruction and I have the time. Even if the paint is good after I get the stuff off I would also like to get the caulking on the vents etc. on the roof replaced and need to get the door re-cleared as it is starting to flake a bit.
happy travels,
Dwight

[Dwight Wilson]

Just an update, I did manage to remove the Diamond Shield from the front of our coach. My God, what a tedious procedure, like 3 days, but I have the time and work cheap. Just Beer and sandwiches. Anyway the results are worth the effort as the paint beneath was pristine and now looks pretty close to new. So it can be done and I have likely saved myself from a $4,000.00 paint job. I don't think I am going to re-apply any film as I really don't put a lot of miles on the coach during bug season. So if you have some time consider doing this yourself as I was quoted about $1500.00 to have the film removed. I think my total cost of materials and glue remover was about $150.00. Oh plus a few bucks for the beer!
Dwight

[Fred Brooks]

   Dwight,
 Now that you have skin in the game, welcome to the passion! I did mine about 2 years ago and made the same decision you did. Only down side is the occasional rock chip you get along the way. Fred