RV Rental Guide
Rent Recreational Vehicles

Translate to English Translate to German Translate to Spanish Translate to French Translate to Russian Translate to Dutch Translate to Italian Translate to Portuguese Translate to Japanese Translate to Korean Translate to Chinese Translate to Greek

How can I restore the original finish on my Westfalia?

I just purchased a 1974 Westfalia, in original condition with 38000 miles. It is in the most amazing shape I've ever seen, outside of a show vehicle. Absolutely no rust or rot anywhere. Even the original paint is still intact on the underbody. Just to brag a little, I got this amazing vehicle for a song and a dance! Anyhow, the paint on it is Yosemite Yellow, with the original green carpet and blue and green plaid interior also in near perfect shape. But somewhere down the line one of its owners didn't like the Yosemite Yellow color - it resembles pea soup in shade. So they painted it white on the outside only. Its a decent paint job, but on the leading edges of the doors etc it is starting to wear away, and the near-perfect yellow is visible underneath. Can I wet sand the white with some 800 or so grit and get back down to the original color? A vehicle in this shape deserves to be ALL original. It was not painted to fix any bodywork, just to change color. Body is perfect!
Nope, they didn't sand it when they prepped it. That's why I said the near perfect yellow color is visible underneath. That's also why I think it is wearing away at any leading edge where it gets wind/weathered when the bus is moving.

Public Comments

1. You must have it repainted. The original finish was sanded and prepped when they painted it white.

2. I WOULD THINK THAT FROM ALL THAT YOU HAVE SAID THAT IT MIGHT BE POSSIBLE TO WET SAND IT USING 800 GRIT SANDPAPER AND BRING BACK THE ORIGINAL COLOR.