I'm going to be painting my car in pieces (or at least I plan to as of this time), and have a few questions about doing it this way. I am painting a solid color in a single stage urethane. How do you deal with the back sides of the trunk lid and doors, I'm painting the backside of the fenders and hood black beforehand, but am not sure about the doors and trunk lid. Is it acceptable to paint them beforehand (on a different day) as well or could you end up with color mismatch issues? What is the easiest way to mask the backsides of any of these panels when it is time to shoot the tops?

Thanks

Hello snydes. I see were not far from one another. I'm near Minersville. Sometimes I go to Klingers junkyard in your town.

If the trunk lid and doors are on the car, just remove the weatherstrips and rubber bumpers and you should be able to spray the insides, then close them and spray the outside. That's what I did on my '72 Malibu doors with no problems.

If they are off the car, set them up on something like saw horses, spray the back sides and flip over for doors.

For the trunk lid, I'd spray the opposite side on a different day in that case. I sprayed the back side off the car, then the next day I installed it on the car and sprayed the top. The only masking was to the trunk jam in my case.

It is quite acceptable and the usual method of painting the various parts. The insides or backsides of panels are usually painted first and then assembled onto the body prior to a complete shoot. The two keys to success are good masking (use 3M Green Tape) and using the same paint mix that will be sprayed on the outside.

If you haven't purchased your paint yet you may consider getting a gallon of paint and making sure that it is very thoroughly mixed. Then mix up the batch that you'll be spraying on the inner sections. Once all that is dry enough for reassembly, hang your doors, decklid etc and shoot the body. The areas that are already painted should be masked off so that you don't spray over it again as it will fog the finish. Using the foam tape inside the door jambs and other closing areas works well for this.

Hope it answered your question. I'm sure there are a few more details that will get posted.

Hello Bob, I'm kinda new to this area and have been hearing allot on this Klinger's, guess I'm going to have to pay them a visit sometime!

Steve, would you also hang the fenders prior to shooting the whole body? I've been reading through past posts on the subject and it seems most people go one way or another in this area, but several seem to like hanging the doors and shooting the fenders off the car. I could really go either way at this point depending on the advice I get. I've done a full frame off on this car and am shooting for as nice of a job as possible. In my mind it seems that you would be laying a more uniform coat of paint with the car assembled but everyone seems to be worried about tape lines.

I'll tell you this, the doors and the trunk were ON the car when it was painted at the factory. They were painted open, and then closed and painted on the outside, all at the same time. The front fenders and hood were off on a rack in front of the car.

Brian, I'd also like to hear what you think is the best way to go (apart, together, half together, etc.) based on your experience as well.

Thanks

It is a hard one, it really comes down to what is best for you. At work, with late model collision repair we paint cars apart all the time. But not always, for a number of reasons. Some guys aren't that good at putting them back together without scratching parts. The color makes a difference as well.

I have a thing about it, I know one thing, it adds a dimension like no other. The room for error is HUGE when doing a car apart. First is the complete coverage issue. If you are not use to painting, you have the tendency to not completly cover the item. Second, there is the chip issue. Third, there is the fitting issue that many people take for granted (BEFORE THE PAINT IS DONE) forth there is the room needed to paint everything and have all these freshly painted parts hanging around.

Personally, I feel that for the garage hobbiest the car should be assembled after jambing and painted complete. The tiny edge of paint on the jamb can be buffed almost completly away. The difficulty factor is WAY higher painting it apart. The joy factor of a job well done is way higher painting it together.

That is how I see it, it is just an opinion.

snydes i live near you in lake wynonah, would like to see your ride. im doind a 71 frame off. e mail me billbeyond@aol.com


bill

Well Brian, I think you Steve and Bob sold me on painting it together.

ONE MORE THING!!
Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm thinking that once you apply your last primer coats and before you finish sand them, that would be the best time to do the jams and assemble it, and then finish blocking the last primer coats once it is together, yes??

That is the way I would do it. Of course finish sand the jambs and the areas that will be painted first. Once the paint is dry on the jambs etc... assemble it with great care and do the whole body as a unit. This includes the fenders and all that good stuff. Small items like tail light bezels (pods) can be painted off the car but at the same time. As Brian said, panel alignment is a PITA so you don't want to be messin' with panel alignment once it's painted...

Have a good one.

My car was repainted when I got it, but I wanted to redo the frame, despite all the precaution that I thought I was applying, I managed to nick the door edges and chip the paint. The factory uses jigs to hold the loose panels while doing assembly. I prefer to do all the bodywork first with the car assembled and aligned, then disassemble, paint the backs of the doors, engine side of the fenders, cut in the jams, cowl and trunk, reassemble, align, mask off and shoot the car as one. It comes out very detailed looking.

Hi Bill, I have a friend that lives in Lake Wynonah, not sure if he is still there or not (lost touch with him). I'd be more than happy to talk your ear off about this thing once I finally get it done!

This is something I wrote up a while ago on the subject.

Painting jambs
There is as many ways to paint jambs as there guys doing it. Unless it is an out and out show car I say paint the jams and then paint the outside. Many guys will say do it all at once with the panels off. The extra work and chance of damaging your new paint are so great, I say save that for the out and out show cars. If tape off the jambs well, you can barely tell the difference.
These are a few things I have learned that save a lot of work. First off, when you paint the jambs, apply both color and clear. DO NOT let the overspray go out onto the outside! This can cause HUGE problems along with the extra sanding that can be avoided. Unless completely removed, that overspray can ruin you work. The solvents from the paint on the exterior will get under the thin overspray and lift! What you want to do is be sure that the outside is TOTALLY done and READY to be final sanded and painted BEFORE you do the jambs. Now, tape off the outside along the jamb edge with at least 18" paper so you don't get that direct overspray out on the exterior. I tape the paper up to about 1/8" from the edge of the jamb. Then take your tape and "backtape" to the edge. This is when you lay the tape up to the edge on the outside so it is hanging over the edge, then gently fold it back, exposing the jamb but keeping the outside covered right up to the edge. This back taping will make a "softer" edge and be much easier to sand.
Go ahead and paint and clear the jamb, and remove that last tape that is back taped while the clear is still a little wet if you want (not necessary but you could choose to do that) the clear will then flow a little at the edge and leave you will even less of an edge to sand off.
Now when you paint the outside tape off the jambs up to about 1/8" or 3/16" from the edge so the seam won't be seen when the door is closed. Sand the exterior including that little edge left from the jamb paint and do the last little bit of jamb paint up to the new tape line with a gray scuff pad. I even will put that tape a little bit further away (about another 1/16") from the edge and after the scuffing with the gray scuff pad, apply a fine line (the blue plastic tape) tape over that last tape but hanging over the edge onto the new jamb paint that 1/16" bringing the line up to the original desired 1/8" to 3/16" from the edge. This will ensure that your jamb edge doesn't peel.

You could also use "aperture" foam tape that 3M makes. It is a rope made of foam with adhesive on it and is like "back taping" it leaves a "soft" edge.
I can go even more anal for you.
This may not work well in your jambs but if you can open the doors before clearing you could do it. I have found an even better way to all but eliminate that edge.
Tape off the edge as described with the extra line of fine line tape over the last 1/16" of new jamb paint (this works with when painting up to any paint actually, it doesn't need to be new paint you are painting up to). Then add ANOTHER strip of fine line the same way, over the next 1/16" or 3/32" getting up even closer to the jamb edge. Now, after you paint the color on the outside, you remove that last fine line added BEFORE you clear the exterior. Now, you will be burying the edge of the base coat under the clear! You don't have to do this by any means but it adds to that detail that is almost like you removed the doors to paint.

For what its worth, I've painted about 50 cars - some for hobby and some just for money. When I painted my 69 Chevelle convertible recently I decided to try painting it apart and then assembling it.

I completely assembled the car, then used a 1/8" drill bit to dowel the doors, fender, hood, and trunk locations. Then I disassembled and painted it. I have luckily got it all back together without scratching anything, but it is nerve wracking.

Pros: excellent appearance inside engine compartment, jambs and trunk. Having the doors and fenders horizontal allowed me to get less orange peel. Paint is in places it could not have been like behind the hinges.

Cons: dangerous all the way - scarry at times. Stripes are hard to line up but possible. I damaged my fender while painting the door because the space was cramped.

Would I do it again, probably but I would leave the trunk and doors on because you can paint inside them easily and they are the hardest to put on.

Ed

From experience, my 69 was painted in pieces on different days with different batches of paint. It's about 8 different shades of green if you look at it in the right light. The car should be painted assembled with the same batch of paint. It is so thin is some areas, you can see the primer through the paibt if you look close enough.

Was this a metallic paint? I would never attemp this with anything other than a solid color - mine is red and was all painted the same day. There is no way a person can see different colors on my car because it don't exist.

Ed

i think it boils down to the amount of reliable help you have at your disposal...someone mentioned a jig they use at the factory, i think thats the kind of help you need if your going to paint in pieces, at least two people who dont mind patiently standing in one spot holding a piece of sheetmetal...that said, i would for sure have the doors and deck lid on, in fact, complete car painting (especially a metalic paint) has to get my vote: for my money after spending a couple days fighting and finagling to alighn panels as perfectly as possible theres no way in hello im going to take them back off for any reason....in my opinion a well fitted body panel is far more important than making sure the fenders bolt hole tabs (and bolt heads) hidden under the doors match the body color...besides, that can all be touched up later if you want....good luck