No sooner had we handled the plumbing issue in the van, but I noticed flaking paint and rust in the 'gutters' of the van's roof. Luckily it was only the roof, so we decided to take on the job ourselves. It was still the rainy season, so we took time - and by we, I mean Debbie - to research fixing the problem ourselves with sandpaper, primer, auto paint, and determination.

Debbie did a lot of research on rust. The last thing we wanted was to paint over a problem. She found a great product to help and then she found the best auto paint kits and ordered primer, paint, and clearcoat. Then we set about prepping....

We washed and scraped and sanded and washed and taped and papered the roof of the van.

To make it easier, we broke this work into a few weekends. Somehow we went through a roll of automotive tape and a roll of butcher paper.

Finally we were ready for the three part rust remediation process: Special cleaner, metal etcher, special paint. Over the course of a weekend, we followed the steps, careful to clean and dry as we went along. We were so excited to remove the tape so that we could then begin the normal painting process.

What we discovered, when we removed the tape and paper surrounded the gutter work areas is that we (and by we, I mean ME) had somehow gotten that super-special etching liquid onto the 'protected' areas of the van's roof. So when we pulled up the tape, we pulled up paint.

Once we got over that gut punch, we set about doing the preliminary work all over again. More scraping, more sanding, more cleaning, more paper, more primer, more base paint, and more clear coat. Whew.

But look at her now.