Paint and Body
RV, Van and Fleet Paint and Refinishing Serving Long Beach
About 10 min left
OCRV Center performs single stage, base and clear, metallic and multi stage refinish work on recreational vehicles, vans and commercial fleets in an in house downdraft booth. Full coach repaints run $5,000 to $35,000 or more depending on length and finish complexity, while spot repair and panel blending runs $500 to $5,000.
Paint is the part of a repair everyone judges, and it is also the part where corners are least visible until about six months later. A panel that was not properly prepped looks perfect on delivery day and shows edge mapping, dieback or a color shift by the second summer.
The variables that matter are prep time, booth environment and color verification, and all three are controllable only if the work stays in house. That is why ours does.
Color Matching on Faded and Aged Finishes
A ten year old coach in Southern California is not wearing its original color. Ultraviolet exposure has shifted the pigment, oxidation has flattened the surface, and the roof and upper sidewalls have moved further than the lower panels because they take more direct sun.
Matching to the factory code produces a patch that reads as newer than everything around it. We spray out test cards, compare them against the adjacent panel under corrected lighting at multiple angles, and adjust the mix until it disappears. Then we blend into surrounding panels rather than stopping at a hard edge, so there is no line for the eye to catch.
Metallic and Pearl Complications
Metallics and pearls hold a matching difficulty that solid colors do not, because the appearance changes with viewing angle. A match that looks perfect straight on can be visibly off at 45 degrees.
These require spray technique consistency in addition to correct mixing, which is why they are checked at multiple angles before the panel is committed.
Full Repaint Versus Spot Repair
A full repaint makes sense when the existing finish has failed broadly, when clear coat is peeling across multiple panels, or when a color change is the goal. It is a strip, prep, prime, block and spray of the entire vehicle, and on a 40 foot coach it is a multi week project.
Spot repair with a blend is the right answer for localized damage on a finish that is otherwise sound. It costs a fraction as much and, done correctly, is invisible. Done incorrectly it is worse than doing nothing, which is why the blend area matters more than the repair area.
Preparation Is the Job
Roughly 70 percent of the labor in a quality refinish happens before any color is sprayed. Sanding to the correct grit sequence, addressing every low spot with filler and blocking it flat, sealing bare substrate, masking cleanly, and cleaning the surface of every trace of contamination.
Skipped prep is the single largest source of paint failure we see on vehicles that arrive here after being painted somewhere else. Fisheyes from silicone contamination, solvent pop from spraying over uncured filler, and peeling from spraying over unsealed substrate are all prep failures wearing a paint failure costume.
Commercial Fleet Refinish
Fleet work carries different priorities. Color consistency across a whole fleet matters more than perfection on any single unit, and downtime is the real cost rather than the labor line on the invoice.
We keep documented mix formulas on file for fleet accounts so unit number nine painted next year matches unit number two painted this year, and we schedule multi unit work in batches so a fleet is not down all at once.
What Is Included
- Complete surface preparation with documented grit sequence
- Filler work blocked flat before any primer is applied
- Sprayed color test cards verified against adjacent panels under corrected light
- Refinish in an in house downdraft booth, never subcontracted
- Blend into adjacent panels rather than a hard edge at the repair boundary
- Documented mix formula retained on file for future matching
- Final cut and polish where the finish specification calls for it
Our Process
- 1
Assessment
Existing finish evaluated for oxidation, clear failure and prior repair work that will affect adhesion.
- 2
Color Development
Test cards sprayed and compared against the vehicle under corrected lighting at multiple angles until the match disappears.
- 3
Preparation
Sanding sequence, filler work and blocking, bare substrate sealed, contamination removed.
- 4
Masking
Trim, glass and adjacent surfaces masked with hard edges avoided where blending is planned.
- 5
Spray
Sealer, color and clear applied in a controlled booth environment at the film build the product specifies.
- 6
Cure and Finish
Full cure, then cut and polish where the specification calls for it.
- 7
Inspection
Finish inspected under booth light and daylight for texture, coverage and match before reassembly.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to repaint an RV?
A full repaint on a Class C or a mid size travel trailer typically runs $5,000 to $14,000. A 40 foot Class A with a multi stage finish and graphics runs $18,000 to $35,000 or more. The drivers are surface area, how much prep the existing finish needs, whether the finish is single stage or multi stage, and whether graphics have to be reproduced. A spot repair with a blend on a single panel runs $500 to $5,000.
Can you match the paint on my faded RV?
Yes, and we match to the coach as it looks today rather than to the original factory code. Ten years of Southern California sun shifts pigment measurably, so a code match would give you a panel that reads visibly newer than everything around it. We spray test cards, verify against an adjacent undamaged panel under corrected lighting at multiple viewing angles, adjust the mix, then blend outward so there is no hard edge for the eye to catch.
How long does a full RV paint job take?
A full repaint on a mid size unit typically takes three to five weeks. A large Class A with graphics runs six to ten weeks. Most of that time is preparation and cure, not spray time. Rushing either end is exactly how a paint job that looked perfect at delivery starts showing edge mapping and dieback within a year, so we do not compress those stages.
Do you paint commercial fleet vehicles and reproduce graphics?
Yes. We refinish box trucks, cargo vans, service bodies and municipal units, and we reproduce fleet graphics either as vinyl or as sprayed work depending on the original application. Mix formulas are kept on file per account so a unit painted next year matches one painted this year. For multi unit fleets we batch the schedule so you are not down across the whole fleet at once.
Paint and Refinishing is performed in shop at OCRV Center, 23281 La Palma Ave, Yorba Linda, CA 92887, serving Long Beach, California and the surrounding region. Call (949) 799-3387 to discuss your vehicle.
Get Your Vehicle Looked At Properly
Call the shop, describe what happened, and we will tell you what the realistic scope and timeline look like. All work is performed in shop at our 35,000 square foot facility.