I'm a virgin painter.

Have done all my own body work....it's pretty close to being right, so it's nearing time for paint.

I am seriously considering painting my 68 in pieces. Single stage urethane, solid color (black).

I am thinking about doing it in 4 stages....1.) front fenders, 2.) hood and trunk lid, 3.) doors and 4.) rest of the body.

This will allow me to do it in my shop and focus on getting it right a panel at a time. Plus, it's a good way to get my feet wet.

My question is, how long can you wait to do all of your color sanding/polishing after applying paint? That would dictate the order of work. Should I paint and then do the finish work or can I paint all of the parts, assemble and then color sand/polish? My desire would be the latter...but it may take me weeks from the time I apply paint until I am sanding.

Inputs appreciated!

I'm not a painter but I have allways wetsand and buffed as soon as i could. For one resson theres nothing in the way.Lock,handels,glass ect ect. And I think with some paints they get pretty hard to wet sand and buff the longer u wait.

IMO its best to cut jambs etc in and paint the assembled car at 1 time, to avoid scratches during assembly. That is totally personal prefrence.
Little bit harder to cut and buff fully cured topcoat, but its totally do able. I was just buffing some rough spots yesterday on some clear i shot back in November. You do however have a minumum time you need to wait before sanding, and some you need to sand and "let breathe" for a day or so. You should always read the tech sheets for manufacturers recomendations.

I would try and paint everything at once, from the same batch of paint.

Trying to remix the paint to get exactly the same shade etc, then lay down the paint exactly the same way days or weeks later is just asking for trouble. Believe it or not, the amount of reducer you use and gun technique can all have an affect on the final color, and if it does, you will see the effect on the finished car from a mile away.

I know you are using black but black is still a "color" from a painting perspective and suffers the same threat.

In the past I have painted a dissassembled car by propping up the fenders, doors, etc nearby (and oriented the same way, ie stand the fenders up the way they sit on the car) so I could paint and still get full coverage of all the edges, backsides, etc but be sure the paint goes on consistantly. If you are using more than one gallon of paint you should always mix up ALL the material you will need in one large bucket,or else intermix the contents of the smaller pails that way the whole batch will be guarenteed to be one color.

As for buffing that is a manufacturer question, they will have guidelines for that, probably right on the datasheet. The window will likely be 1 week on the outside to maybe less than 24-36 hrs.

OK...thx for the input guys. That changes my plans a bit then. In light of all that, I think I'll jamb it out disassembled, assemble everything and then get a buddy to paint the whole thing in his booth.

I guess the extra benefit is I don't have to worry about messing up the paint trying to assemble things.

I'm just looking for the RIGHT way to do this at my own pace and without spending a fortune.

Thanks again for keeping me from doing something stupid!

I just primed my 86 Cutlass last night. I did the door & trunk jambs, then went back and shot the whole car while assembled. It made it much easier in my opinion. If you lived near me, I could show you what happens to a car when you paint it in pieces. My 69 is about 3 different colors because of this :mad: